City’s Recycling Day Breaks Record

Keeping it Green, Rain or Shine

So, what do you do with those old cans of paint or chemicals that you know are bad for the environment? Hide them in the recycling bin and hope they won’t muck up the recycling plant somewhere down the line?

What you do is wait until the city holds one of its bi-annual America Recycles Day events. Then you can drive to The United Methodist Church parking lot, or City Hall, and dump your hazardous and electronic trash – along with old documents you want shredded (a nice bonus for a city filled with professionals).

Last year’s April event was canceled due to the pandemic, but the fall event was not. And on that one day in November, the city collected 17,000 pounds of electronic waste and 17,000 pounds of household hazardous waste and shredded 9,000 pounds of sensitive documents. “It was our largest event since we have been holding these events over the last four years,” said Senior Sustainability Analyst Matt Anderson.

Because of early rains and pent-up demand, some of the 615 cars dumping their waste had to wait up to 45 minutes. Nonetheless, says Anderson, “All of our residents were extremely happy, and happy to wait in line and do right by the environment.” Since the program started in 2016, the city has “diverted” 217,000 pounds of waste from landfills or worse, as well as 41,000 pounds of paper. Next round: April 2021.