Brownwood's Recycling Center on FM 45 South is not just a bottles-and-cans drop-off - it takes residential trash for disposal too, deliberately, to keep traffic out of the landfill. For a resident that makes it the cheaper stop by a wide margin: $5.00 per pickup or single-axle trailer, against $44 a ton at the landfill.

The proof requirement has a time limit that catches people out. What the gate wants is a Brownwood water bill no older than six months, paired with a driving licence in the same name. Without it, or if you live outside the city limits, the rate is $13.00 per pickup or single-axle trailer. Commercial loads are refused outright here and must go to the landfill; all commercial customers pay the outside-city rate wherever they go.

Cover your load. An unsecured load costs $20.00 on top, and staff decide what counts as covered - a tarp or a net, completely over the load.

Two things this site does that most do not. It takes refrigerators and freezers without you removing the refrigerant first - certified staff recover it - though you must empty out food, trash, loose shelving and drawers before arriving. And it runs a latex paint reuse shelf: bring latex paint in its original, legible container and it goes out for other residents to take. Oil-based paint and stains are not accepted at all; the city's advice is to dry them out at home and bin the solid remains.

Mulch and compost are available year-round - free to residents with a water bill and matching licence provided the load is tarped, and $10.00 a cubic yard for anyone outside the city. Ring 325-641-8832 first if you want it loaded by machine, and note that staff do not load between 11am and 1pm. On recyclables the centre is fussy for commercial reasons rather than fussiness: rinse glass and plastic bottles and take the lids off, rinse metal food cans, take plastic bottles out of carrier bags, and bring aluminium beverage cans only - foil is refused because of food contamination.