In an effort to provide the best recycling service possible, the City of Thomasville has announced changes to the City’s recycling program. Beginning next week, the two self-drop off centers that are currently available will be consolidated into one recycling center, which will be located in the 1200 block of Remington Avenue behind Fire Rescue Station Three. Closing the recycling center located on West Remington Avenue will allow resources to be focused on improving the overall recycling program for our community.
“We are fortunate to live in a community that values environmentally responsible practices such as recycling,” said Jimmy Smith, Jr., City of Thomasville Solid Waste and Landfill Superintendent. “Many people would like to engage in recycling practices, but don’t know how to do so properly. This can lead to unintended consequences such as contaminated recycling bins. Consolidating our recycling centers into one location will allow us to implement some improvements to current process that will hopefully limit some of the unintended contamination we’ve experienced.”
Smith said that some of those improvements will include staffing the recycling center under new hours of operation so that contamination of the recycling bins is limited. “The City of Thomasville currently accepts plastic recyclables marked as 1s or 2s, cardboard, newspapers, magazines, shredded paper, white paper, metal cans, and aluminum cans,” he said. “Contamination occurs when items that are not recyclable are mixed in with accepted items. It can also occur when recyclables are not clean or if they are placed in bins inside trash bags. Having staff available will limit contamination and allow us to help provide more education on best practices for recycling.”
Some of those best practices for recycling include the following:
- When recycling plastics, look for a number 1 or 2 on the bottom of the item. No other numbers are accepted at City facilities at this time. Adding a recyclable with a number other than 1 or 2 can contaminate a bin, possibly resulting in the bin being thrown away.
- Rinse your recyclables to be sure they are free of food, debris, and liquids. Examples would be rinsing out recyclable milk jugs and shampoo bottles. Keep in mind that items with residue such as greasy pizza boxes cannot be accepted.
- Plastic bags are NOT accepted in any form. This includes plastic grocery bags, plastic garbage bags, and others. These lightweight bags can jam sorting equipment at the baling facility and can hide potentially dangerous materials such as syringes. Do NOT throw plastic bags of any kind into recycling bins.
- Break down cardboard boxes before tossing them in the bin.
- Not everything can be recycled. It is important to follow recycling rules closely to avoid bin contamination. Some examples of items that are NOT accepted include: plastic bags, Styrofoam, household garbage, batteries, yard debris, tires, and glass.
- Pay attention to the bin signage. Only put plastics in the plastic bins, cardboard in the cardboard bins, and so forth.
“The majority of recyclers want to do the right thing,” said Chris White, City of Thomasville Director of Public Utilities. “They want to act responsibly and positively contribute to a greener community. It is important to us that those actions end in bins being able to be recycled. This can happen when we follow the simple rules of how to recycle properly.”
The City also offers electronics recycling twice each year (designated locations) and curbside white goods recycling, which includes items such as household appliances, the third Saturday of each month (by request only for City residential customers). “In addition, the Solid Waste Department also holds annual recycling events such as the Spring Clean and our popular Christmas tree recycling program,” said Smith. “We are committed to offering our customers easy solutions for their recycling needs. However, proper recycling practices are key to a healthy recycling program.”
To learn more about how to recycle, what can be recycled, and more, visit www.thomasville.org.