The Biosphere Recycling Center is Texas City's drop-off site, and it is more useful than the name suggests — it takes several things a pure recycling centre would turn away.

The city's published recyclables list runs to aluminium, cardboard, clear and coloured glass, newspapers and magazines, plastics numbered 1 and 2, steel, and used motor oil. Plastics outside those two grades are not wanted.

Beyond recycling, the site accepts what the city files as disposable items: debris from minor home remodelling jobs, household appliances, and tree limbs. That last category feeds the grinder.

Four things are refused outright, and they catch people regularly: automobile batteries, paint, roofing materials, and anything toxic or hazardous. A car battery is the classic wasted trip here, because most recycling centres do take them.

Mulch runs the other way. Tree limbs are ground and given back. Single-grind mulch is free to anyone, whether or not you live in Texas City. Double-grind mulch and compost are free to Texas City residents only, with a limit of two cubic yards.

The city publishes opening times of 8 a.m. until 4 in the afternoon from Monday right through Saturday, plus Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., closed on city holidays. Seven days a week is unusual for a municipal drop-off and worth knowing if your only free time is a Sunday afternoon.

The site sits at 3301 25th Avenue North and the number is (409) 643-5810. Curbside recycling is not currently offered in Texas City; the city has said it is waiting for recycling markets to settle.