So you've been called to the Hall of Justice for jury duty. You grab a drink from a vending machine during a break and after quenching your thirst, you look for a recycling bin to dispose of the empty bottle.

But there isn't one.

That was the experience of one recent juror, who says that she and other jurors were told to throw the bottles out.

"We are expanding our container recycling," says Noah Lebowitz, a spokesman for the county, which manages the Hall of Justice.

New bins are on order and should arrive within a few weeks, he says.

The availability of public recycling bins in local government buildings varies

The county has recycling bins for paper in other buildings with public areas - they're scattered throughout the County Clerk's Office, for example. And there are no public vending machines in the County Office Building, unlike the Hall of Justice.

At City Hall, the lobby and the public areas around the clerk's desk do not have bins for paper or containers.

"There are bins back behind those areas," says city spokesman Mike Keane. "Every office here has recycling bins."

Customers use the office area to apply for permits or to pay taxes or bills and usually don't need a bin, Keane says, because they aren't generating much paper waste.

"If anything, they're filling out forms and giving them back to the clerk for processing," he says.

If people make mistakes on their forms, they can give the forms to a clerk for proper disposal.

In the cafeteria, which is open to the public, there are bins to recycle paper and containers, Keane says.