With the 2020 election season largely behind us, people may soon begin to take down campaign signs throughout Orange County. But a local government’s department is encouraging people from simply throwing them into the trash.

Orange County Solid Waste Management recently shared some guidance to community members about how to properly dispose of election and campaign yard signs. Often made of different materials, it can be challenging to know which signs are recyclable and which are not.

The department says any election signs that are 100% paper, without any foam piece or lamination, can be put into either the blue county recycling bins, Waste and Recycling Centers or drop-off sites like other recyclables. It’s important, however, the metal wire stand in the bottom of yard signs is removed. Orange County says these pieces cannot be included in recycling and can either be discarded as scrap metal or saved to be reused.

Some campaign yard signs are made with a thin, flexible plastic. The Solid Waste Department says if the signs have a LDPE #4 designation on them, they can be recycled with plastic bags if the signs are clean and dry. Drop-off sites for plastic bag recycling can be found at various grocery stores around the county.

Finally, for campaign signs made out of polypropylene, or corrugated rigid plastic, Orange County Solid Waste says these must be discarded in the trash. You can tell which signs these are by examining the sides, which have holes and ridges.

The locations of all the Waste and Recycling Centers in Orange County can be found on the Solid Waste Department’s web page. Other items on the county’s A-Z recycling guide can also be found here.

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