Caledonia Argus

County seeks better sorting of recyclables

Posted: 11/25/03

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

Take off your cap.

No, weíre not talking about the Pledge of Allegiance. Weíre talking about recycling in Houston County.

If recycling coordinator Nick Nichols had one wish for his program, it would be that people start taking the caps off plastic pop and milk bottles.

The bottles are recyclable, but the caps are not, and every one that is left on a bottle has to be removed by hand.

That takes time and labor, and that means money, something in short supply for Houston County.

Budget concerns have led to a tightening of standards in the countyís recycling program Nichols asked this reporter to ride with him on Friday, November 14, for a look at the dos and doníts of recycling.

The caps on pop bottles were on the top of his list. ìA lot of labor,î he said about that. ìIíve got guys down there [at the recycling center], thatís all they do, take caps off.î

He had some other advice:

ï Flatten cardboard (but not cereal boxes or 12-pack cartons, please -- they arenít recyclable.

ï Put magazines, newspapers, tin, and glass in separate bags. Tie plastic items like milk jugs together. Anything that cuts down handling will save the county money.

ï Donít recycle newspaper inserts -- itís a different grade of glossy paper than magazines and is unacceptable.

And no garbage. No peanut butter jars that are half full of peanut butter. No bottles of spit. Nichols has encountered both of these.

ìWeíre trying to control the garbage we get in the trailers,î Nichols said. One load that had eight yards of material yielded three yards of garbage.

We stopped at several blue bins on Caledonia boulevards.

One, in which everything was separated, got an A plus. Another, in which a bag contained glossy newspaper inserts and a windowed envelope, was more like a D minus. Nichols said he would encourage the hauler to leave that bag with a ìtagî on it. A tag is a yellow piece of paper that tells the owner why the material canít be recycled.

He pulled out a plastic juice bottle marked with a number four on the bottom. No good. He left it on the curb.

There are 120 different types of plastic, Nichols said. ìWe collect two.î Those can be summed up as soda pop bottles (no caps, please), which are number one plastic, and milk jugs, oil jugs, and laundry detergent bottles, which are number two plastic. If they have a neck, they are OK. If not, donít recycle them. For example, Cool Whip containers are number two plastic, but itís a different grade and the company that is buying the plastic wonít buy them.

Donít leave wet items either.

ìFor the most part, people are really good,î Nichols said. ìMost people want to do whatís right.î

Separating paper, plastic, glass, and metal means the hauler can work more efficiently, which translates to better efficiency for the workers at the recycling center in Houston, where it is taken. Drivers from Woodland Industries take it there.

Woodland Industries also provides workers at the center to sort and package material. The big building is stacked high with bales of cardboard, newspapers, and three different grades of plastic. These are sold at the going market rate. For example, cardboard is now selling for $65 a ton to a Twin Cities business.

Magazines go into four-foot cubes called gaylords that hold about 1,000 pounds.

Glass goes to a local quarry, where it is crushed, mixed with rock, and used on roads. The county has to pay to get rid of glass, because there is no market for it.

Aluminum cans are flattened and blown into the back of a semi-trailer, which can hold about six tons. The trailer is owned by Alter Company, which has a contract with the county to buy the aluminum. The center also buys aluminum.

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