♻️ RecycleYes if it's clean — scrunch it into a ball for the blue cart.
Aluminum foil and clean foil trays are recyclable in LA County curbside recycling, but only when they're clean and balled up. Greasy, food-caked foil contaminates the load and goes in the trash instead.
Wipe or rinse off food, then scrunch the foil into a ball at least the size of a golf ball (2–3 inches). Loose flat sheets are too small and thin — the sorting machines miss them — so balling several pieces together is the trick. Clean foil trays and pie tins go straight in the blue cart.
When it's trash instead
Foil coated in baked-on grease, cheese, or sauce that won't wipe off goes in the black landfill cart — food residue contaminates the metal stream. A quick rinse usually saves it.
Not the same as foil-lined wrappers
Chip bags, gum wrappers, and juice pouches look foil-like but are mixed plastic-and-foil laminate — those are trash, not foil recycling.
Aluminum Foil — quick FAQ
Is aluminum foil recyclable?
Yes — clean aluminum foil and foil trays are recyclable in LA County curbside. Scrunch foil into a ball at least 2–3 inches so the sorters can catch it.
Can I recycle greasy aluminum foil?
No. Foil caked with grease or food contaminates the recycling — wipe or rinse it clean first, or put it in the black trash cart.
Why do I need to ball up aluminum foil?
Flat, thin foil sheets slip through the sorting screens. Balling several pieces together makes a piece big and dense enough to be captured and recycled.
Are aluminum foil trays and pie tins recyclable?
Yes — empty and rinse them and they go in the blue cart, just like aluminum cans.
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