Can-Do Spirit A…read morelocal chain of five recycling centers located throughout the Bay Area, with this one being in SJ's Cambrian neighborhood. Normally, I couldn't care less about saving cans to turn in, but about six months ago I got tired of the old lady who takes the cans from our bin every week, and I decided, "Why don't we start saving them instead of giving away money?" Let's see how that idea turned out: The Good: * Convenient location at the Lunardi's shopping center on Branham & Meridian. * Lots of free parking. * They pay you cash on the barrel-head. No checks, no electronic payments. Just cold hard cash. * Open seven days a week. * Employees were affable enough, even though they seldom look at you, let alone say anything to you. But, I will say, I don't mind dispensing with pleasantries on occasion. The Meh: * Arrived shortly after opening and we still had to wait over an hour to finally turn our cans in. This place is always busy. * Closed between 1 - 1:30 for lunch. The Ugly: * One of the bad things with collecting cans is you have to store them someplace in the meantime, and my garage is only so big and it gets to be a real PiTa after a while. * Now, I'm not saying that they're scamming you, but their method for tracking the weight of all your stuff is very, very suspicious. They just weigh it, but I don't see them log the numbers down on anything. So how they come up with the final weight and dollar amount is a mystery to me, unless the dude handling the scale has a photographic memory. Which is possible. Unlikely, but possible. Conclusion: Well, I've had some pretty hare-brained schemes in the past, but this might be up there. Six months' worth of cans (2 1/2 of their bins full) and we got a measly $20! Hell, it wasn't even $20--$19.85, to be exact. The moral of the story is, if your time is worth more than $20/hr then just leave the can turning in to the old lady.

We've been going to Jado for a while. It's more convenient that other places, plus it's close to…read morehome. Similar to other locations, the aluminum cans are $1.65/lb. On this particular day, on a Monday afternoon, it was quite busy. It is generally in and out and quick. All the times we've been here, we haven't received bad service. They're just doing their job and they do work hard, Be sure to put a tip in their can to show your appreciation. We always do.

Favorite place to recycle cans. I had tried using those Olyns machines before but every time I…read morewould go, they'd be broken or get full before my turn in line. I only use the can machine here. It doesn't matter if the cans are crushed or not -- it's by weight. Just bring your cans over to the guy who helps place them in the machine to weigh them. It's super quick. Then you take your receipt to the Cashier to cash out. The line can get long, but I've never waited more than 10 minutes if there are 4 or 5 people in front of me. People who work here are really chill and nice. My mom is addicted to drinking diet sodas, so the equivalent of about 3 trash bags of her cans (about 8 pounds) made me $14! Someone's trash can be another person's treasure.

Since I recycle at RTRC but once a year, I have to re-learn their process which includes lots of…read moregrunting and pointing. With every section you visit (ie. cans, plastic, glass, scrap metal), you receive a receipt which you keep. When you're done visiting the different stations, you take all your receipts to the cashier, who moves at the pace of a sloth, show your ID, sign a document, and receive your recycle cash. When I come here, one of my biggest gripes is that I take the time to separate my recyclables in bags and the employees throw them in a container with either cans falling out or glass bottles breaking when they don't make it into the weighing container and I lose out on my weight. Because I want to reclaim all the CRV that I paid on my wine bottles, distilled water bottles, and cans and plastic from my last party, I begrudgingly come here year after year. Recycling on a weekday is less crowded than a weekend. Lastly, be careful of all the fork lifts zooming about and people parking.

Great staff great rates great perks. The best recycle services in the area. Highly recommend!…read moreAnd thank you you guys for offering free water to your customer. This is a small perk but means a lot to us.

It was an Easy unloading and pay process. You drive in and…read morethey weigh your car, no need to get out of car except to pay

UPDATE. They don't take any recyclables anymore. The owner recommended a new place to drop off…read morerecycling: Caraustar San Jose Recycling 388 E Alma Ave San Jose I came here two different times. First they said they don't take any electronic or wood recycles, only boxes. Today, they said they no longer take boxes. So this should be taken down.

Note: They have moved! They are on S. 10th St. near Tully, at the back of the Suddath property. I…read moredropped off an old printer and a box of small miscellaneous electronics. The charge was $5 for the printer only. Quick and easy. CALL before you go to make sure someone will be there!

What an unpleasant experience today 01/03/26 The young woman…read moreat the check in is un polite, disrespectful a has a terrible attitude. We had to put up with her to then find out that the minimum charge is $130 This is ridiculous, she said that site is mostly for big companies not residential. I would give no stars if I could.

I took a pickup load of cardboard to recycle there. They said they don't recycle cardboard when…read moretheir sign out front says this is a recycling drop off. My only option was to put it in landfill for a $95 charge. I wound up going to a recycling place in Mountain View where it was free. Screw this place.

Great service and pricing. If you got stuff you want to get rid of Leo's is the place in San Jose…read more Dumped a full 5x8 trailer for $86. That's what I paid back in the day as well. Great place with friendly staff.

Fast and easy to use, much cheaper than the competitors. Would highly recommend for local dumping.read more

This center gives a wonderful service to the community by accepting batteries to be recycled…read morewithout fee. I was able to drop off a used e-scooter battery quickly and without an appointment. Thumps-up for making our environment safer with this service!

easy to communicate & was able to drop off multiple items for E-Waste at his door step. i let him…read moreknow what i had before dropping off, making sure he accepted the items. i would use this business again in the future

I'm a volunteer at the Gunn High School machine shop . I took three barrels of aluminum chips and…read more solid scrap to Sims On Monterrey Rd. As it was my first time there, I went on line to check them out. A short time later I got a phone call from the office asking if I had any questions. I clarified which gate to use etc. When I got there it was very clean and clearly marked. Jesus met me and helped to unload my van. After some confusing on my part as to having chips mixed with solid metal, Jesus helped me sort out some of the solid aluminum. Next time I'll know. Jesus gets five stars from me.. He made the whole operation easy. The cashier lady was also very helpful in explaining the procedure for payment.

"If you want grown-ups to recycle, just tell their kids the importance of recycling, and they'll be…read moreall over it."--Bill Nye Brought in a small bag of cans that we found whilst cleaning up our storage space at werk and were told they evidently don't take aluminum recycling anymore. Seriously. What the actual fuck? Then why is there a giant sign that says "ALUMINUM"* above the entrance? Why bother even having a recycling business when you don't accept the only metal, aside from copper, that's (monetarily) worth recycling??? Speechless we left the bag and asked them to give it to the first homeless person that darkened their door. It was probably less than $10 worth anyways fwiw... *sorry no pic my bad. #partyfoul

I dropped off an old microwave there. At first, I couldn't find the place to leave it. I guess the…read moresignage could be better. When I did find the people, they were very friendly and helpful. I would leave ewaste there again.

Thank you Evelyn and James for a great experience. The staff is friendly and nice. The place is…read morelocated at 529A Race Street. The address is clearly visible from the street. The badminton place is on the other side (Courtney N) and the RV place is in the middle. All three businesses are assigned 529 but have an "A" , "B", "C", etc.

Man this place is and will be my company's number 1 recycling center they are amazing. Great at…read morethere job but the owner Moe and his crew are amazing man. They retrieved stolen bag of clothes of mine that was taken by a bum and went out of their way to contact me and store everything. Thank you guys so much man they literally saved me so much headache.

When it comes to wire recycling by far the best place to go. These guys are so down to earth type…read moreof family I have been going here for a while and the best part you don't have to strip your wire. All you need is your id and you get the best price for you wire. I recommend you give them a try. Also bring them some coffee and donuts or something these guys work hard and take care of us.