Grab your pizza boxes, Chinese food cartons, and other to-go containers. Louisville residents can now dispose of their food take-out containers in their curbside recycling carts. That includes packaging from burgers, chicken, pizza, tacos and other to-go containers as well as drink cups.

Metro Public Works is partnering with the Foodservice Packaging Institute to educate residents on the initiative. The FPI is providing the department with a grant of up to $10,000 to fund a recycling outreach campaign.

The wider curbside recycling is available to more than 84,000 households in the city’s Urban Service District served by Public Works.

QRS Recycling, Louisville’s recycling processor, has added the new items to the list of materials it already handles. Expanded recycling supports the goal established by Mayor Greg Fischer to divert 90 percent of recyclable material from our landfill by the year 2042.

“This is another step in the long-term plan to create an even cleaner and more sustainable future for our city,” the Mayor said.

Residents are asked to empty all food and liquid containers before placing them in the recycling bin, though it’s not necessary to make the items perfectly clean.

In 2015 Louisville collected nearly 23 million pounds of recyclables that were sorted by QRS.

To find a list of acceptable items, go to Recyclable Materials.