Monticello Live

Between July of 2010 and June of 2011, Monticello alone recycled 42.21 tons of newspapers. Considering that the majority of Drew County residents choose not to recycle, that’s quite an impact made by a small percentage of residents.

Cathy Davis oversees many operations at the Monticello Transfer Station, but one very important aspect of her job is handling the city’s recycling center.

“We currently only have two men that handle pick up and sorting here. It’s all done by hand, and they work very hard,” Ms. Davis told Monticello Live.

To make recycling as easy on its residents as possible, the city offers curb-side pickup on Wednesdays to all that live within city limits. Simply call the Transfer Station (367-4407) and have your address put on the list. Those outside of the city limits can bring their recyclables directly to the center where they will be unloaded for you. The address is 1466 Old Warren Road.

There are approximately a little over 400 homes on the list for curb-side pick up this year, meaning most Monticello residents are not taking advantage of the service the city provides for free.

“I’m not sure if it’s just the ease of throwing everything away or the lack of space some people have for storing a week’s worth of recycling that keeps them from letting us pick it up for them,” Ms. Davis said.

Many may be confused about what exactly the city’s center will accept. The following are allowed to be recycled:

• Cardboard – flattened
• Aluminum Cans – bagged
• Newspapers – bagged or boxed
• Plastic Bottles – bagged with the lids off – must have numbers 1 or 2 inside recycling symbol. Cannot process other numbers.
• Electronics – audio/stereo equipment; cell phones; computers and accessories; DVD players; telephones; etc
• Office Paper – must be shredded and bagged
• Tires – must be brought to center. Individuals and companies welcome to dump their own tires at no charge.

Some items that are not allowed are:

• Batteries
• Appliances
• Coffee Makers
• Magazines
• Paper Plates
• Napkins
• Glass
• Diapers
• Styrofoam
• Hygiene Products

The workers at the center have a simple saying when it comes to what to put inside a bag of recyclables, “If you will put your hand in your recycling, then we will. If you won’t… we won’t.” In other words, last night’s supper on a paper plate is unlikely to be something you would want to dig through later, and they feel the same way. They ask that you please keep this simple idea in mind when choosing what to send them.

Once all recyclables arrive at the center, they are sorted by category and then placed into the compacting machines. These machines crush whatever items are placed into them, and pack them tightly to be bailed. All materials are put into these machines by hand, meaning the large stacks of cardboard, plastic, cans, and paper that are neatly stacked in the back of the warehouse, were hand-sorted by only two men – Timmie Robinson and Leon Youngblood.

The recycling program in Monticello is funded by the ADEQ (Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality) by grants. The city is able to sell all recyclable materials, minus electronic waste and tires, to brokers. The money earned is then put into the city’s general fund. The recycling program also saves the city money on tipping fees by freeing up space in the landfill.

In a little under a year, Monticello recycled:

• 19 tons of electronic waste
• .60 tons of aluminum cans
• 101.41 tons of scrap metal
• 143.47 tons of cardboard
• 42.21 tons of newspaper
• 6.95 tons of assorted paper
• 9.53 tons of plastic
• 16,381 tires

According to www.recycling-revolution.com, recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours, or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline. Also, there is no limit to the number of times a single can is able to be recycled. Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator and just one plastic bottle recycled will power a computer for 25 minutes.

The city of Monticello encourages its residents to take advantage of its free offer to you – simply let them make the world better by taking your recyclables. It saves our city money, earns it money, and lessens the amount of trash filling our landfill.

“It’s really simple, but it makes a big difference.” – Cathy Davis

 

This entry was posted on Monday, October 31st, 2011 at 6:27 am and is filed under City. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.