Did you throw away your old used toothbrush? Don’t do that next time! Instead, bring it down to a CHaRM event along with your empty toothpaste tubes and empty floss containers. 

The Utah Recycling Alliance will partner with the city of Cottonwood Heights to host a CHaRM (Collection of Hard to Recycle Materials) event on Saturday, June 6. Residents are invited to drop off their recyclable materials in the Hillside Plaza lot (2378 E. Fort Union Blvd.) from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. 

CHaRM pop-up events are intended to gather recyclable items from residents that may otherwise end up in the trash. In 2025, the Utah Recycling Alliance helped to collect over 34,000 pounds of materials through their statewide CHaRM events. In Cottonwood Heights, over 4,016 pounds of recyclable materials were collected. (To view our previous coverage of that event, visit the Cottonwood Heights Journal website and search for the article titled “CHaRM event helps residents recycle hard-to-recycle items.”) 

“CHaRM events empower people to do the right thing,” said URA Board Member and CHaRM Program Lead Robi Overson at the time. “Instead of asking residents to hunt down different recyclers for every item, we make it easy by bringing them all together in one place — so you know exactly who’s taking your materials and that they’re being handled responsibly."

Hard-to-recycle items that can be brought to this event for disposal include: plastic containers, batteries, carpet padding, lightbulbs, box springs, outdoor equipment, plastic bags, scrap metal, books, Styrofoam (hard compressed), plastic wrap, ink and toner cartridges, and bikes and their parts. 

Electronic waste will be collected. That includes cellphones, chargers, computers, laptops, monitors, tablets, corded electronics, batteries, string lights, TVs and small appliances. 

Residents can also give their old tires, tire tubes, mattresses and box springs to the Utah Recycling Alliance to dispose of for an extra fee ($15 each). 

Volunteers will help residents sort their materials so they can be aggregated for disposal at responsible recycling facilities.

CHaRM events help in part to support Utah Recycling Alliance’s vision of a Zero Waste culture. The aim is to build successful models encouraging practices that promote reuse, recycling and resource conservation.

Their other programs, like Green Drinks gatherings, Trash Talk educational opportunities and community outreach initiatives, support this aim by promoting a culture where materials are valued and waste is minimized. To learn more about the Utah Recycling Alliance, visit: www.utahrecyclingalliance.org. 

To help support the alliance’s efforts, residents aren’t only limited to taking part in CHaRM events. There are also many volunteer and donation opportunities available: volunteers are needed to help sort materials at CHaRM events, table at special events, and host clean-up events; donations can be submitted directly to the Utah Recycling Alliance website as a one-time or recurring donation. 

To reserve a spot, find the “CHaRM Recycling Collection Event - Cottonwood Heights” event hosted by Utah Recycling Alliance through EventBrite (www.eventbrite.com). 

Need to miss this event but still have items to recycle? The Utah Recycling Alliance has a handful of upcoming events this summer including CHaRM events at the Hogle Zoo and in Millcreek.