Very good news: The City of Houston's recycling program will now accept more types of plastic for both curbside pickup and recycling-center dropoff.

Up until now the plastic you could recycle was limited to mostly water bottles and plastic milk jugs, but now a whole range of things can be placed in the green box.

Whether you toss recyclables in the green bin for curbside pick-up or drop them off at City of Houston recycling centers, you can now recycle even more plastics than ever before - just take a look at the small triangle on your plastic containers. In the past, only plastics with a #1 or a #2 could be recycled. Now, if you see a #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, or #7, it can be recycled.

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The City of Houston is already accepting the extra recycling material -- for those who get curbside collection, simply place the plastics in the box.

"They are now allowing us to take those types of material, so we are excited to be able to take those materials and divert it from landfills," City of Houston representative Marina Joseph said.

While the program is expanding, there are still a few things you cannot recycle.
If an item has a #6 in the middle of its triangular recycling symbol, do not put it in a green bin or bring it to a collection center.

This ban extends to a few other specific items as well.

"We will not accept furniture, toys or packaging material, and #6 plastics are like Styrofoam, so we are not accepting that material," Joseph said.

By the way, if you want to know what the participation rate is for curbside recycling pickup where you live, you can find that information here. I'm happy to see that my neighborhood is above the citywide average, though there's definitely room for both to grow.