Common Waste Ban Materials
Cardboard, paper, bottles and cans, textiles, mattresses, shrink wrap, pallets, and other packaging materials. Commercial food material may also be generated, including snack bar and packaged food.
Waste Reduction Guidance for Retail Businesses
Non-food focused retail businesses may be able to reduce disposal costs and improve Waste Ban compliance by recycling cardboard and other packaging materials, coordinating with haulers, and giving employees clear guidance on proper sorting.
Sector Snapshot
Retail Waste Reduction at a Glance
Key Opportunities
Recycle cardboard and other packaging materials, right-size collection equipment, reduce contamination, and train employees.
Important Requirements
Cardboard, paper, bottles and cans, and certain other materials are banned from disposal in Massachusetts. Retailers are responsible for keeping applicable Waste Ban materials out of the trash.
Where to Start
Recommended Waste Reduction Actions for Retailers
Retailers can improve Waste Ban compliance and reduce disposal costs by identifying commonly discarded materials, improving recycling, coordinating with haulers, and training employees to sort materials correctly.
Know Your Waste
Review operations, trash bins and dumpsters to identify Waste Ban materials, recurring disposal issues, and opportunities to improve recycling.
Review your wasteRecycle Cardboard & Packaging
Improve collection for cardboard, paper, bottles and cans, shrink wrap, pallets, and other recyclable packaging materials.
Explore cardboard recyclingCoordinate with Your Hauler
Confirm accepted materials, right-size collection equipment, adjust pickup schedules, and establish backup plans for balers or compactors.
Review hauler coordinationIdentify Other Materials
Look beyond cardboard to identify other Waste Ban, recyclable, and reusable materials generated by your business, including paper, bottles and cans, commercial food material, textiles, mattresses, plastic film, pallets, construction materials, and store fixtures.
Explore other materialsMassachusetts Waste Bans
Keep Waste Ban Materials Out of the Trash
Retail businesses are responsible for properly managing materials that are banned from disposal in Massachusetts. Even businesses with established programs can experience compliance issues when baned materials are placed in the trash.
Your business, waste hauler, and solid waste facilities all have responsibilities under the Massachusetts Waste Bans. Identifying the materials your business regularly generates and working with your hauler can help prevent failed loads, additional fees, and enforcement.
Common Waste Ban Materials for Retailers
- Cardboard
- Paper
- Glass, metal, and plastic bottles and containers
- Pallets (banned at landfills)
- Commercial food material
- Textiles and mattresses
Cardboard Is a Priority
More than 75% of MassDEP Waste Ban enforcement involves cardboard. Retail businesses often generate large quantities of this readily recyclable material, making proper collection especially important.
Improve Cardboard RecyclingKnow Your Waste
Start by Looking at What Your Business Throws Away
Understanding what is actually going into your trash and recycling containers can help identify Waste Ban materials, contamination issues, and opportunities to improve your recycling program.
Retail businesses commonly generate materials such as cardboard , paper , and bottles and cans , textiles , mattresses , along with shrink wrap, pallets , and other packaging materials. Retail businesses may also sell commercial food materials , including packaged food and grab-and-go items, or operate an eating area.
Check Containers Regularly
Periodically reviewing trash and recycling containers can help identify Waste Ban materials and contamination. Use what you find to improve signage, employee training, collection equipment, or service levels.
Cardboard Recycling
Make Cardboard Recycling Work for Your Business
Cardboard is one of the most common materials generated by retail businesses and has well-established recycling markets. Improving cardboard collection can help support Waste Ban compliance while reducing the amount of material sent for disposal.
Choose a Collection Method
Work with your hauler to select equipment that matches the amount of cardboard your business generates and the space available for collection.
- Compactors
- Dumpsters
- Carts for smaller quantities
- Balers for high-volume cardboard
Confirm Material Specifications
Ask your hauler how cardboard should be prepared and whether it will be collected separately or with other recyclable materials.
- Cardboard-only collection
- Cardboard mixed with paper
- Single-stream recycling
- Preparation and contamination requirements
Optimize Your Service
Monitor cardboard volumes and work with your hauler to make sure collection capacity and pickup frequency continue to match your business needs.
- Right-size cardboard containers
- Review pickup frequency
- Keep cardboard out of trash containers
- Plan for baler or compactor downtime
Cardboard in Action
Recycling Cardboard Can Reduce Disposal Costs
Retail businesses that separate large volumes of cardboard may be able to reduce trash container size or pickup frequency as more material is moved into recycling.
Less material in the trash
Right-sized service
Reduced disposal costs
Improved Waste Ban compliance
Retail Success Story
Wyman’s Liquors Saved $7,000 Annually
Wyman’s Liquors in Leominster improved its cardboard recycling program after receiving a failed load notice. The business returned to compliance, reduced disposal costs, and now diverts 90% of the materials generated on-site.
Other Retail Materials
Look Beyond Cardboard for More Recovery Opportunities
Retail businesses may generate additional recyclable and reusable materials through deliveries, inventory, daily operations, and store transitions. Review these materials with your hauler or recycler to identify appropriate collection, recycling, or reuse options.
Other Waste Ban Materials
In addition to cardboard, retailers may generate other materials that are banned from disposal in Massachusetts and require appropriate recycling or recovery.
Paper
Waste Ban Material
Bottles and Cans
Waste Ban Material
Commercial Food Material
Waste Ban Material
Textiles
Waste Ban Material
Mattresses
Waste Ban Material
Pallets
Waste Ban Material
Metal Shelving & Fixtures
Waste Ban Material
Packaging & Reuse Opportunities
Other materials generated through shipping, receiving, inventory, and store transitions may have recycling or reuse outlets depending on material type, condition, and available services.
Plastic Film
Pallets
Reusable Fixtures
Store Equipment
Surplus or Reusable Materials
Commercial Food Material
Does Your Retail Business Generate Food Material?
Retailers that prepare, sell, or serve food may generate enough commercial food material to be subject to the Massachusetts Commercial Food Material Ban.
If your store includes food-generating businesses or sells packaged food, review how much food material is generated and whether food scrap collection services are needed.
For grocery stores, convenience stores, and big-box retailers with significant food operations, please see our Supermarket Guidance .
Hauler Coordination
Match Collection Service to Your Business Needs
Work with your waste, recycling and food material haulers to confirm accepted materials, select appropriate collection equipment, and adjust service as your diversion program changes.
Collection Service
Review Equipment, Capacity, and Pickup Frequency
Talk with your hauler about the materials your business generates and how they should be collected. As recycling increases, you may be able to reduce the size or pickup frequency of your trash containers.
Collection Options to Discuss
Compactors
Dumpsters
Carts
Balers
Dedicated cardboard collection
Single-stream recycling
Have a backup plan for equipment failures.
If your business relies on a baler or compactor, work with your hauler in advance so recyclable materials can continue to be collected if equipment needs repair or replacement.
Employee Engagement
Train Staff and Keep Recycling Clean
Clear signage and regular employee training help keep banned materials out of the trash while reducing contamination in recycling containers.
Label Containers Clearly
Make it easy for employees to identify where trash and recyclable materials belong.
- Clearly label all containers
- Use simple, picture based signage, and make sure the signage is translated.
- Show materials generated at your business
- Keep instructions consistent across collection areas
Train Employees Regularly
Employees should understand which materials are recyclable and how materials should be sorted before they reach collection containers.
- Include sorting and diversion procedures in staff training
- Explain which materials are accepted
- Review how materials need to be prepared (ex. flatten cardboard)
- Repeat training when procedures change
Keep Recycling Clean
Just as recyclable materials should stay out of the trash, non-accepted materials should stay out of recycling and other containers.
- Keep food and liquids out of recycling
- Keep plastic bags and film separate. They cause problems at sorting facilities.
- Keep Styrofoam out
- Confirm accepted materials with your hauler
Monitor and Reinforce
Check collection containers regularly to identify recurring sorting problems and determine when additional training is needed.
- Look for Waste Ban materials in trash
- Check recycling for contamination
- Address recurring sorting mistakes
- Update signage when needed
Free Recycling Education Resource
Use Recycle Smart MA to Support Employee Training
Recycle Smart MA is a MassDEP educational resource that helps people understand what belongs in recycling and what does not. Retailers can use these tools to reinforce employee training, answer questions about specific materials, and provide consistent guidance throughout the store.
Use the Smart Recycling Guide and Recyclopedia to review accepted materials, address common sorting questions, and help employees make better decisions at collection containers, break rooms, checkout areas, and other locations where materials are generated.
Smart Recycling Guide
Recyclopedia lookup tool
Training videos and quizzes
Training Best Practices
Make Recycling Part of Regular Store Operations
Train new employees
Include recycling procedures and collection locations as part of
employee onboarding.
Hands on examples
Train employees using cardboard, packaging, bottles, cans, and
other materials they handle during normal operations.
Provide refreshers
Repeat training when accepted materials, equipment, or collection
procedures change.
Check results
Monitor trash and recycling containers and reinforce training when
recurring sorting issues appear.
Retail Success Stories
Waste Reduction in Action
See how Massachusetts retailers have improved recycling, reduced disposal costs, recovered reusable materials, and strengthened Waste Ban compliance through practical changes to everyday operations.
Featured Case Study
Leominster, Massachusetts
Cardboard Recycling & Waste Ban Compliance
Wyman’s Liquors
After receiving a failed load notice for excessive cardboard in the trash, Wyman’s Liquors made practical changes to its recycling program. The business adjusted collection equipment, improved signage and employee training, and expanded recycling throughout its retail and office spaces.
What They Did
- Switched container use to better match cardboard and trash volumes
- Adjusted pickup frequency so containers are emptied when full
- Added consistent recycling stations throughout the store and offices
- Labeled collection points with clear, material-specific signage
- Included recycling procedures in new employee training
- Expanded recovery of bottles, cans, cardboard, paper, and film plastics
Results
90%
diversion
Wyman’s Liquors improved its recycling program and significantly reduced the amount of material sent for disposal.
$7,000
saved in disposal costs in the first year
Bottle & Can Recycling
South Hadley, Massachusetts
Haydocy Gas Station
600 lb.
of bottles and cans diverted annually
Haydocy Gas Station introduced a customer-facing bottle and can recycling program to reduce the amount of recyclable material being disposed through the Town of South Hadley’s Pay As You Throw program.
What They Did
- Installed a dedicated bottle and can recycling receptacle
- Placed the recycling container next to the existing trash container
- Used clear signage showing accepted and non-accepted materials
- Made recycling convenient and visible to customers
- Reduced the amount of recyclable material entering the trash
Reuse & Recycling
Hatfield, Massachusetts
Century Kitchens
2+ tons
of materials recovered for reuse
When Century Kitchens prepared its former retail space for transition, the business worked with RecyclingWorks MA to identify cost-effective alternatives to disposing of inventory, furniture, equipment, and other reusable materials.
What They Did
- Sold kitchen sets, appliances, and other items with resale value
- Donated usable materials through local reuse outlets
- Recovered furniture, cabinets, shelving, and building materials
- Recycled store records, magazines, and other paper
- Reduced disposal and dumpster costs by using multiple recovery options
~$500
saved in disposal costs
Read Case Study
Business Sector Guidance
Explore Guidance for Other Sectors
Every industry has different materials, operational challenges, and opportunities. Explore sector-specific guidance, resources, and examples from Massachusetts businesses and institutions.
Ready to take action on waste reduction?
Contact our team for free, customized assistance.