EASIER RECYCLING

New bins available at landfill

JAMICÁ C. ASHLEY CNHI

TARBORO — Plastic bottle anyone?

As a recipient of the 2010 Recycling Bin Grant, Edgecombe County Solid Waste is making recycling a little bit easier for county residents.

"It is our goal to help the community to have tools and resources to accommodate their needs to ensure that recycling can be a part of their special event," said Gloria Moseley, administrative assistant for the Solid Waste Department. "This grant will enhance our efforts."

The grant was from the national Keep America Beautiful and sponsored by the Coca-Cola Co. with the aim of supporting the purchase of 20 recycling bins that can be used at special events including wedding receptions, family reunions and church or other social gatherings.

Moseley's answers to the 14-question application stood out among the 1,700 submitted applications to promote and support recycling across the country.

The 20 bins are two and a half feet tall and collapsable for easy moving.

All the user has to provide is the trash and the plastic bag to put it all in.

The bins will hold plastics as well as commingle items – glass, plastic, aluminum cans, newspapers and magazines – and the items can be dropped off at the landfill site when the bin is returned.

The bins are only available at the Colonial Road landfill site and can be picked up without prior notice.

"We're getting more calls now about what to do (as far as recycling)," Moseley said. "Commingling helps the consumers recycle."

Commingled is when various types of recyclables can be stored together instead of each individual material being stored separately or separated prior to bringing them to the landfill.

This program has been in place since the fall of 2007 and has put more than 1,100 recycling bins in 225 communities in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

"Our company is committed to designing packages that are recyclable and resource efficient," said April Crow, sustainable packaging manager for the Coca-Cola Co. "We hope this program will encourage communities to expand recycling as we continue to close the loop for our products as well as other valuable recyclables."

Interest in recycling grew partly because of an Oct. 2009 mandate banning certain items from North Carolina landfills.

Among the banned items are used oil, aluminum cans, antifreeze, lead-acid batteries, scrap tires, yard trash, rigid plastic containers, wooden pallets and oyster shells.

Beginning on April 1, 2011, discarded computer equipment will also be banned from landfills.

"With the ban coming on October 1, it (interest in recycling) has gone up," Moseley said. "People are more aware now than they were before."

Between July 2009 and June 2010, 190.57 tons of plastics and commingles were recycled by Edgecombe County Moseley said.

During this same time frame, 37.68 tons of cardboard were recycled.

To use one of the recycling bins for an upcoming event, contact the landfill at 827-4253.

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