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This has been a very difficult time for folks, but our recycling program continues as usual.

Just this week I’ve seen an increase in the amount of recycled material. People seem to be a little more comfortable negotiating the world away from home. They continue to do an outstanding job of breaking down their corrugated cardboard boxes and sorting their materials before approaching the trailer. Because of our need to maintain our six feet of distance from each other, sorting your materials in advance is essential.

Our pickup locations are at Harmon Field on Mondays, Saluda on Tuesdays, Green Creek Fire Dept on Wednesdays and the Polk County Historical Museum in Columbus on Thursdays. All pickups are from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

In this letter I’d like to talk about what is not recyclable since there is considerable confusion here. The key word is containers. The plastic that is recyclable is in the form of containers that hold either food or household products. These have the numbers 1 – 7 stamped in a triangle on the bottom. Virtually all other plastic like coat hangers, packing, bubble wrap, drinking straws, plastic implements, plastic bags, styrofoam etc. are not recyclable.

The following metal items are not recyclable at the truck: coat hangers, hardware, tin foil or tin pie pans, other metal tools or gadgets. All metal is recyclable at the landfill. Containers either metal or plastic that have held poison, pesticides, herbicides, gasoline, anti-freeze, etc. are not recyclable.

Our recyclable categories are include Aluminum drink cans, plastic containers and steel cans together, glass (bottles only), corrugated cardboard and mixed paper (includes books, magazines, paper in any form).

Some other items that have caused confusion are other aluminum cans like cat food cans. They go in with the plastic. Glass, other than glass bottles that have held food or household products, is not recyclable. Examples are ceramics, drinking glasses, window glass, mirrors etc.

We also take all kinds of batteries except car batteries and all kinds of light bulbs.

A warm thank-you to all our recyclers. Many now crush their plastic milk jugs and other large plastic containers and break down their corrugated cardboard boxes. That helps us get a lot more material on the trailer and allows the attendant to help those who can’t climb or who need other assistance. Your help is much appreciated.

 

Submitted by Dan Dworkin