The City Recycle Center at 488 S. Castell Avenue is free, but it is important to be clear about what it is: a recycling drop-off, not a dump. You cannot bring household rubbish or bulky waste here. What you can bring is the full kerbside list - paper, cardboard, cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, tubs and jugs - plus two things the kerbside cart will not take: scrap metal, accepted year-round, and completely white expanded polystyrene foam marked with the #6 code, provided it is free of food residue, tape and labels.

The rules on presentation are enforced rather than advisory. Items must arrive loose in a clear container such as a storage bin. Bagged recyclables will not be accepted, and that includes Green Waste bags. You are asked to stay in your car while attendants unload. Trailer loads are refused outright, so this is a car-boot service, not a haul.

Hours are Tuesday to Saturday, 8am to noon and 12.30pm to 4pm, closed Sundays, Mondays and city holidays - note the genuine lunchtime closure, which catches people who arrive at half twelve.

If you are not a New Braunfels resident, the city redirects you - either to Comal County's facility on Resource Drive, or to Green Guy Recycling over in San Marcos. Both sites answer to other operators, so ring ahead about opening times and charges. For the things this centre cannot take, New Braunfels runs a free quarterly Bulky Goods Drop-Off across four sites for furniture, mattresses and car tyres, an annual free electronics event each January, and separate household hazardous waste days open to city and Comal County residents alike. Batteries are not taken in the kerbside cart and need one of those events instead.