There's an unspoken language at Berkeley Recycling, kinda like a pickup game of ball on a city court somewhere. If you wanna play ball, keep your mouth shut and your eyes open. Learn the language by watching... If you ask for permission or instruction, the chiseled-faced regulars are bound to run you off the court. Not for the faint of heart. Not for the slow moving. Get your damn cans on the belt in a timely fashion (with a smug look on your face) and you can make back the tax you spent on the soda cans you already bought. read more

Was looking for a spot to recycle 2 years worth of cans that was open during COVID. Our usual spot was closed. BCR to the rescue. Super easy, drive up, place your recyclables into the appropriate bins, then go and pick up you check. Our new recycling spot from now on. read more

We brought what should've been about $30 worth of recycling and got only a check for $20 and some cents. Filfthy, long lines and the workers are sooooooo rude! Plus getting a check sucks ;( read more

Excellent recycling center which includes a drive up option. The staff was really friendly and they worked very quickly.

Some of the most patient folks on earth work here, especially John. Donations are quick and easy---they even took a stove in the metal scrap bin. However, for redemption, so many more people are recycling for funds--it can get crazy! So not a great place if you are in a rush, but if you presort (#1, #2, cans, and bottles by colors) and remember you are making some money and helping the earth you will do okay. They do take batteries and spent fluorescents. At the southwest end of the lot, past where you get your check if you turn in for money. Oil can sometimes go to oil changing places and other household hazards can go out to the Alameda County Hazardous Waste Facility at 2100 East 7th Street in Oakland. CoCo county also has a similar facility at 101 Pittsburg Avenue in Richmond. read more

Went early in the morning so there was no line. The people there were helpful and very friendly.They take cans bottles and plastic for buyback and in the corner there is battery recycling. read more

Super helpful employees and great place to recycle. Made $120 on cans and glass that we had accumulated.

It was ok. Its a recycling place. Basically I took about 4 garbage bags of various recyclables and it paid for my appliance disposal $10. I probably could have gone to somewhere else to recycle and got more money. But it was close to my house and I got rid of my stuff. Also $10 disposal fee seemed ok since I probably could have gone further to the dump and paid more. read more

Great place..Easy, convenient, and quick. Better than the recycling centers that have clothes everywhere

Helpful staff, good value, convenient, quick payment and weighing process. Never crowded, plenty of parking and helpful people.

I have been waiting for a week for my garbage to be collected. I wrote a letter to the mayor, I called the garbage refuse collection at least five times and nothing has been done. Today is Friday and a holiday (Malcolm X) for the Berkeley city workers. I am hoping my garbage will be pick up on Tuesday. read more

Berkeley Recycling Center - It doesn't look as bad as the Berkeley Downtown after all. - Recycling Center Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I had quite a bunch of cardboard to drop off after moving. I had been dreading it because so often recycling centers are confusing and unfriendly with long lines. My experience here, though, was very good. The center was easy to find as was the place to drop off anything they accept. I had a lot of cardboard -- a lot! I filled the dumpster, which was only had a bit when I arrived. As it was getting full, someone was promptly there to replace it with a new dumpster, but quite courteous in waiting until my load was done. I don't expect much in recycling centers; I'm just glad they are there serving a good cause. This was as good of an experience as I have had at a recycling center. read more

Spent two days trying to figure out where in the hell I could recycle household batteries and CFLs-- since our local Ikea stopped taking them. Spent **considerably** less time actually driving here and dropping said items off. Woohoo! Did I mention it was easy and FREE? read more

More than once I've had to hound the scale attendant to give ticket because someone behind me was hastily dumping their plastics while I was dumping my glass. This results in people leaving angry & shortchanged while the staff could not care less. It's sad that people work hard collecting (as a living) just to have their time & effort wasted by an attendant who doesn't care. And there's no way to correct the compensation after two ppl have dumped; so if you recycle a lot, take your business elsewhere. read more

horrible experience. recycling monopoly right on eastshore. the city of berkeley should revoke the lease and rezone it. You get the distinct feeling that the owner and employees would prefer only lower-income and homeless use the facility. Very Berkeley. Always count your plastic bottles. Without counting, he pays $1.19/lb for PET CA. A standard arrowhead bottle weights 0.021lb per 500ml dry empty. He gave me $3.09 for my 124 bottles but had I known to count them I would have received (124 * 0.05) = $6.20. So you are losing nearly half. Don't fall for his tricks. The glass price per/lb and per/count is roughly the same. some choice lines: "dude, i'm just a cashier here, what do you want?" "i don't make any money from your glass bottles" not my problem. you work and own a recycling center. The state of CA created this boondoggle and you make a living off it. Participate fairly or close your shop. The owner when questioned on return pricing became belligerent, rude, and condescending. the junior employees running the conveyor were really nice. helpful with advice and explaining the rules. It's the senior folks sitting by the glass and the owner that my grievance lies with. read more

We filled 11 of their huge garbage can size plastic tubs with glass, plastic and aluminum cans. You have to get your own pull cart, plastic trash tubs, and separate everything yourself - and all of the glass has to be separated by color. We wheeled both pull carts over to the recycling area where the rude worker dumped everything in a machine and gave us a ticket. We then had to go stand in line for the cashier, who handed us a $21 check. Seriously? I thought you at least got a nickel per item. Anyways, totally not worth the effort. On the plus side we got an awesome arm workout!! Ill continue to donate my recyclables to the lady with the shopping cart that digs thru our trash. Added one star for being a place where folks can recycle their stuff instead of dumping it in landfills. read more

This is convenient and quick recycling center. The employees are very helpful. Enough bins for separating cans, plastic bottles and glass. Accessible for everybody to get to. read more

I came here to dispose of some lightbulbs and batteries, it was easy, though I had a better experience in El Cerrito.

So quick and easy to get to and unload. Place is very clean, staff was clear in directions. In and out in minutes.

They take sealed lead batteries, unlike the local ewaste recycling places. Yay! I had a few from a UPS (surge protector with battery backup) that after many years needed to be replaced. The battery recycling is to the right, when driving in. read more

Came here to drop off some scrap metal (parts from my car). Drove in, stopped by the dumpsters, and transferred the metal from the car to the dumpster. Fast and easy! (There's a separate area for buyback redemption). read more

So smooth. had a bunch of extra cardboard left over after the holidays. brought it here, threw in the bin and done. painless.

First time going to a buy back recycling center. This place was easy to find, efficient, and had very friendly staff.

Went there a few months ago, will be going in again soon. We have a huge collection of CRV plastic soft drink bottles. The last time we went there, it took about 30 minutes to get all the bottles out of the pickup and into their sorting system / machinery. Very impressive conveyor belt fed bottle processing machine, quite fun to watch actually. We got a check for about $50, and were out of there in about 45 minutes total time - not bad at all. My only complaint is that they close a bit early, at 4pm, which makes it rough during the week, but they are also open Sat & Sun. read more

All their employees are always very cordial, speedy, orderly. It is not just for homeless, as one reviewer wrote. It is for you/me, anyone and this company is very well-run operation. I highly recommend amassing your home recyclables, bring it here. Get a buy-back check. read more

Not impressed. The workers were acting like they were doing me a favor by answering questions. Having never been there before, I didn't realize that I had to sort the green, brown and clear glass from each other and put in separate bins. You also have to sort different clear from non-clear plastics. Make sure that you bring gloves. The plastic cans that you use to sort and carry the recycled materials are lined with scum and the scent of alcohol. They really need to power hose the place down weekly. Just because it's a recycling facility, does it have to look and feel like a dump. Oh, forget about getting 5 cents for each container under 24 oz. and 10 cents for each container over 24 oz. By paying by weight, the center can use a rate per pound formula that probably gives a 1/3 to 1/2 of that value. Oh, you get paid by check. Four, large plastic garbage bags of recycled materials = $6.02. From now on, I'll put it in the waste management recycling pickup. read more