(Submitted by Bowling Green Recycling Center)
The Bowling Green Recycling Center has been scrambling to keep up with the Holiday surge.
Both curbside collection and the dropoff volumes increase dramatically right after Christmas and this will continue for another week or so.
While there has been improvement in the reduction of trash in curbside recyclables the trash problem has increased with the Christmas surge. Christmas wrapping paper in bags has been a problem. Plastic bags are not accepted and neither is wrapping paper. Toy boxes with plastic windows are another big Holiday problem. The boxes are recyclable but the plastic must be removed.Please breakdown boxes to save space. The boxes also run up the feed conveyor better if broken down.
The following are guidelines for Bowling Green curbside and dropoff recycling.
BOWLING GREEN RECYCLING GUIDELINES
Curbside recycling collection is designed to capture high volume recyclables generated in the family home that can be separated at a recovery facility.
Not all recyclables can be collected curbside.
Not all communities accept the same materials for curbside collection.
Sort lines to separate commingled materials are not designed to handle all recyclables.
It is labor intensive and too expensive to collect everything that is recyclable curbside.
Several materials collected at the Bowling Green Recycling 24hr drop off are not accepted for curbside collection due to Sort line processing limitations of people and equipment.
Curbside materials must be placed LOOSE inside the city recycling cart (not bagged).
Here is a list of items NOT accepted for Bowling Green curbside recycling:
No plastic bags—they get wrapped up in equipment–take back to the store.
Nothing in plastic bags–it is not cost effective or safe to tear open plastic bags.
No glass curbside–broken glass is a safety hazard and contaminates the paper–take to drop off.
No shredded paper—it cannot be separated on the Sortline –take to drop off in plastic bags.
No scrap metal—metal gets caught in equipment and causes damage–take to drop off.
No miscellaneous plastic–PLASTIC BOTTLES ONLY–neck smaller than body with screw on lids.
No books—-they can’t be separated from the paper by the equipment–take to drop off.
No batteries—they can cause a FIRE
No styrofoam
No greasy cardboard—tear off and discard the greasy portion of pizza boxes
No clothes—they get wrapped up in equipment—take to Goodwill or use for rags
These following are the ONLY items accepted curbside in Bowling Green (nothing in plastic bags).
FIBER—Cardboard,paperboard (ex cereal boxes)newspaper, magazines and office paper.
(no shredded paper–take bagged shredded paper to the dropoff)
Shredded paper falls through the debris screen on the Sortline and becomes trash.
CONTAINERS—Steel food cans ( rinsed out-labels removed), aluminum cans and plastic bottles (lids on) only. Loose lids fall through the debris screen and become trash.
ONLY the above materials are accepted curbside –everything else is removed as trash on the Sortline.
Again all items must be loose inside the collection cart so they can be easily separated on the Sortline. DO NOT put items inside boxes , plastic containers or plastic bags.
The Bowling Green Recycling Center 24hr drop off at 1040 N College accepts all the above curbside materials plus the following:
Scrap metal,clean aluminum foil, shredded paper in plastic bags, container glass and books .
Do NOT put any of the above items in your curbside recycling cart.
They are considered trash when put in curbside carts–they will not get recycled.
There are no sort stations on the line for these materials
They cannot be recovered from the sortline.
Please bring these items to the 24hr drop off.
Anyone not having curbside recycling collection is encouraged to bring their recyclables to the 24hr drop off. All curbside accepted materials are also accepted at the drop off.
Curbside recyclers are encouraged to bring non curbside recyclables to the 24hr dropoff.
Please sort your recyclables into the proper containers.
Currently the Recycling Center is experiencing receiving some curbside materials in plastic bags as well as some plastic bags of garbage when city trucks deliver materials. Anything in a plastic bag is considered garbage. There is not enough time to open plastic bags on the Sortline and they can contain nasty surprises.
No plastic bags and nothing in plastic bags is accepted in the city curbside recycling program.
Another problem is people including items not accepted curbside or including items that are not recyclable. Plastic materials other than bottles are a big problem. When in doubt throw it out! Just a few items not accepted mixed with curbside recyclables causes problems sorting materials and increases costs.
Sustainable recycling depends on everybody doing their part to assure the quality of recyclable materials. Recyclables must be the right thing ,in the right place.prepared the right way. Materials in bags and unrecyclable items cause processing problems, contaminate good recyclables and increase costs.
Thank you for your attention to these guidelines.
And——Thank you for recycling
