Recycling Centers in Utah

Recycling in Utah

Utah has 119 recycling centers across 41 cities, including drop-off sites, electronics recyclers, scrap-metal yards, and household hazardous waste facilities. Recycling in Utah is administered by the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control (DWMRC), part of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Utah does not have a bottle-deposit law or a mandatory residential or commercial recycling requirement; the state's approach relies on voluntary programs at the local level. Utah's waste diversion rate is approximately 24 percent (2024 data), below the national average, and the state is actively collecting better data through its Statewide Recycling Data Initiative.

The Salt Lake Valley holds the vast majority of Utah's recycling infrastructure. Salt Lake City leads the state with 41 centers. Ogden lists 10, and West Valley City and South Salt Lake each have 6. Orem, West Jordan, Tooele, and Magna each list 3. The concentration of centers along the Wasatch Front reflects where the state's population is densest; rural areas typically depend on county-level drop-off programs.

Utah has a limited electronics recycling law (enacted 2011) that requires manufacturers of computers, computer peripherals, televisions, and television peripherals sold in Utah to publicly describe where consumers can recycle those devices and to submit annual reports to Utah DEQ — but it does not create a funded manufacturer take-back program or ban electronics from landfills. The Utah Legislature further reinforced the framework with SB 24 (2023), establishing an Extended Producer Responsibility structure, and SB 217 (2025), which added state-funded collection events and public education. Utah residents who wish to recycle electronics can use private drop-off facilities, retailer take-back programs, or county household hazardous waste events.