Recycling district eyes improvements

Monday, May 5, 2008

The West Central Solid Waste District (WCSWD) is looking to spend $50,000 for new recycling bins to aid the ones already in place.

The bins are for communities that don't already have curbside recycling in place, but can also supplement such areas given that curbside has strict limitations on what they will accept. The bins are more for plastics No. 1 and No. 2 as well as paper.

The WCSWD already owns six bins in the tri-county area. There are two such bins in Putnam County already located at the IGA in Cloverdale and next to the fire station in Roachdale.

One of the major issues with the current bins in Putnam County is the cost it takes to have them collected. At one site, the bill is around $2,000 a month versus $2,400 for an entire year at a location in Montgomery County.

The reason it is immensely cheaper in Montgomery County is due to the use of private bins with a company named Walden that has its own recycling center.

Carolyn Robinson, Office/Programs Coordinator, told the board, "It is my goal to have two to three new bins next year."

At the end of 2008, the contract on the current bins will lapse. This is why Robinson is looking to spend $50,000 on new bins the district would own.

If the district owns the bins, they will have more options and should be able to save money like Montgomery County is doing.

The $50,000 will only be spent after the grant process has been completed. The grant would afford the WCSWD $25,000, meaning they will only be paying half for this venture.

This year, they have already collected more than 200 tons of recycling since January in the tri-county district.

It was also reported that the WCSWD will be partnering with Sprint.com for cell phone recycling. When the WCSWD's website is updated in the near future, there will be a link to Sprint's project connect that collects old cell phones with proceeds going towards the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the NEA Health Information Network and others.

This is a project designed by Sprint called 4NetSafety designed to keep kids safer on the internet.

The program is free, with postage being paid by Sprint once the proper postage is printed off from their website: www.sprint.com/projectconnect

The WCSWD Board of Directors meets regularly the last Wednesday of the month at the Putnam County Courthouse Annex Building in Room 7 at 9 a.m.

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