Recycling in Monroe County... It's Complicated!

The Allyn’s Creek Garden Club was privileged to have a presentation on local recycling at our November General Meeting by Meagan Evans-Saurini, Environmental Educator for Monroe County Department of Environmental Services. Lots of great information can be found on their website: https://www.monroecounty.gov/des-solidwaste 

              and https://www.monroecounty.gov/des-residentialrecycling

Most of Monroe County’s recycling is in partnership with Waste Management, and there are two landfills in our county. Meagan explained the waste hierarchy upside-down pyramid, and that in our area, we generate about 5 pounds of garbage per person per day! 

 

She gave us some great tips to avoid being ‘wishcyclers’ – putting things in recycling that we wish would be recycled but aren’t – and to prevent clogging the recycling machines:

1) things that aren’t recyclable include plastic pill bottles (those can be taken to EcoPark), plastic clam shells (regardless of their recycling number), plastic bags/film, any black plastic, tiny bits of foil.

2) foil (including Hershey’s kisses wrappers) is recyclable and should be collected and formed into a ball at least the size of a baseball.

3) leave bottle caps and jar lids ON, even mixed media. Caps and lids are too small and jam the works. Place small bottle tops that cannot be reattached into other metal cans with lids.

4) it is better NOT to nest items, since the processing goes by weight and different melting points.

When in doubt, look it up! 

 

While glass is collected curbside, it is not actually recycled, but is instead crushed and used as “beneficial cover” for the landfill. 

If you're concerned about the use of clean water for rinsing out jars etc. for recycling, you can run them through the dishwasher first, if you're already running a load. But according to Meagan, items don't need to be spotless, but they should be emptied and scraped and given a quick rinse, to prevent contamination of the truck and the other recyclables.  

 

The ACGC has just signed up for the NexTrex Recycling Challenge. Thank you to the Monadnock Garden Club of New Hampshire for inspiring us! Other non-profits are encouraged to sign up as well, not just to get a free bench, but to use the challenge to get educated and educate our communities about what plastic bags and film can and cannot be recycled.