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The arrival of single-stream recycling in Wayne County has resulted in a steep increase in the amount of paper, glass, plastics and metal recycled from homes and businesses and has prompted Waste Management’s Beach Lake Transfer Station to increase the size of its drop-off recycling center.
The staff at Beach Lake and a number of neighbors and local officials officially commissioned the new recycling center during a ribbon cutting program earlier this week.
Single-stream recycling does not require the public to sort papers and plastics, metals and glass into separate bins. Waste Management offers this service in many markets in the United States and commonly sees volumes increase after introduction of the convenient service. The traditional method of recycling, known as “source-separated,” requires users to separate paper from co-mingled materials and place them out for collection or drop them off in different containers.
Waste Management’s Dan Card reported that Wayne County residents recycled 16 tons of recyclables in 2007 and 176 tons in 2008.
In 2009, after the introduction of single-stream drop-off recycling, the community recycled 323 tons of paper, glass, plastics and metal. Wayne County residents this year have recycled 175 tons through the end of August.
The steadily growing demand for recycling services convinced Mr. Card and his staff to expand Beach Lake’s dropoff facility from two two-cubic-yard containers (one for cardboard and the other for co-mingled bottles and cans) to a single 35-cubic-yard walk-up container that takes a wide variety of plastics, paper, metals and glass.
Card said recycling weights are increasing in Wayne County while the weight of recyclables overall is declining because plastics are replacing glass in packaging.
“The weight of material recycled in Wayne County continues to increase while the weight of recyclables overall is decreasing,” Card said. “An increasing number of manufactures who previously packaged their products in glass are now using plastic and this is causing the weight of recyclables to fall.”
Card said the county’s increased volume of recyclables is reflected in the activity at Beach Lake’s recycling drop-off center.
“It seems like there’s someone at our recycling center all of the time and this activity convinced us it was time to enlarge our center,” Card said. “We wanted to make it more convenient for our neighbors to recycle and do something good for the environment.”
Card said Beach Lake’s single-stream recycling center on Rosencranse Road is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon.
Card provided a list of items for recycling:
• Aluminum — Rinsed food and beverage containers; labels do not need to be removed.
• Glass — Rinsed clear, brown and green food and beverage containers with lids removed; labels do not need to be removed.
• Plastics — Rinsed plastic containers with symbols 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and lids removed; labels do not need to be removed. These items include milk jugs, water and sports drink bottles, detergent and bleach bottles, and shampoo bottles.
• Metal — Rinsed tin cans; labels do not need to be removed. These items include soup and food cans, and coffee cans.
• Paper — Newsprint, construction paper, Kraft paper (paper grocery bags), paper board (cereal boxes and shoe boxes), printer paper, computer and copy paper; junk mail, magazines and catalogs, phone books, and corrugated cardboard (flattened). These items are recycled loose; do not bind or bag.
These items cannot be recycled at the center:
• Wax-coated paper or cardboard, such as milk and drink cartons.
• Any material with food debris.
• Plastic bags.
• Batteries.
• Styrofoam.
• Light bulbs.
• Mirrors, window or auto glass, porcelain, ceramics, glass cookware and bake ware, microwave oven trays, drinking glasses, perfume/cologne bottles.
• Wood and yard waste.
• Unnumbered plastics.
• Coat hangers and wire.
• Household items such as toasters, electronics, appliances, etc.
• Hazardous or toxic substances.
• Items containing or having debris and residue containing hazardous or toxic substances such as paint cans with wet paint, motor oil containers, gasoline cans, glue, and petroleum products.
• Aerosol cans.
Beach Lake Transfer Station, Apex Waste Services, Dunmore, and Alliance Landfill in Taylor, are operated by Waste Management, its industry's leading provider of comprehensive environmental services. Based in Houston, Waste Management serves municipal, commercial, industrial, and residential customers throughout the United States and Canada. The company employs about 150 people in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The arrival of single-stream recycling in Wayne County has resulted in a steep increase in the amount of paper, glass, plastics and metal recycled from homes and businesses and has prompted Waste Management’s Beach Lake Transfer Station to increase the size of its drop-off recycling center.
The staff at Beach Lake and a number of neighbors and local officials officially commissioned the new recycling center during a ribbon cutting program earlier this week.
Single-stream recycling does not require the public to sort papers and plastics, metals and glass into separate bins. Waste Management offers this service in many markets in the United States and commonly sees volumes increase after introduction of the convenient service. The traditional method of recycling, known as “source-separated,” requires users to separate paper from co-mingled materials and place them out for collection or drop them off in different containers.
Waste Management’s Dan Card reported that Wayne County residents recycled 16 tons of recyclables in 2007 and 176 tons in 2008.
In 2009, after the introduction of single-stream drop-off recycling, the community recycled 323 tons of paper, glass, plastics and metal. Wayne County residents this year have recycled 175 tons through the end of August.
The steadily growing demand for recycling services convinced Mr. Card and his staff to expand Beach Lake’s dropoff facility from two two-cubic-yard containers (one for cardboard and the other for co-mingled bottles and cans) to a single 35-cubic-yard walk-up container that takes a wide variety of plastics, paper, metals and glass.
Card said recycling weights are increasing in Wayne County while the weight of recyclables overall is declining because plastics are replacing glass in packaging.
“The weight of material recycled in Wayne County continues to increase while the weight of recyclables overall is decreasing,” Card said. “An increasing number of manufactures who previously packaged their products in glass are now using plastic and this is causing the weight of recyclables to fall.”
Card said the county’s increased volume of recyclables is reflected in the activity at Beach Lake’s recycling drop-off center.
“It seems like there’s someone at our recycling center all of the time and this activity convinced us it was time to enlarge our center,” Card said. “We wanted to make it more convenient for our neighbors to recycle and do something good for the environment.”
Card said Beach Lake’s single-stream recycling center on Rosencranse Road is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to noon.
Card provided a list of items for recycling:
• Aluminum — Rinsed food and beverage containers; labels do not need to be removed.
• Glass — Rinsed clear, brown and green food and beverage containers with lids removed; labels do not need to be removed.
• Plastics — Rinsed plastic containers with symbols 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and lids removed; labels do not need to be removed. These items include milk jugs, water and sports drink bottles, detergent and bleach bottles, and shampoo bottles.
• Metal — Rinsed tin cans; labels do not need to be removed. These items include soup and food cans, and coffee cans.
• Paper — Newsprint, construction paper, Kraft paper (paper grocery bags), paper board (cereal boxes and shoe boxes), printer paper, computer and copy paper; junk mail, magazines and catalogs, phone books, and corrugated cardboard (flattened). These items are recycled loose; do not bind or bag.
These items cannot be recycled at the center:
• Wax-coated paper or cardboard, such as milk and drink cartons.
• Any material with food debris.
• Plastic bags.
• Batteries.
• Styrofoam.
• Light bulbs.
• Mirrors, window or auto glass, porcelain, ceramics, glass cookware and bake ware, microwave oven trays, drinking glasses, perfume/cologne bottles.
• Wood and yard waste.
• Unnumbered plastics.
• Coat hangers and wire.
• Household items such as toasters, electronics, appliances, etc.
• Hazardous or toxic substances.
• Items containing or having debris and residue containing hazardous or toxic substances such as paint cans with wet paint, motor oil containers, gasoline cans, glue, and petroleum products.
• Aerosol cans.
Beach Lake Transfer Station, Apex Waste Services, Dunmore, and Alliance Landfill in Taylor, are operated by Waste Management, its industry's leading provider of comprehensive environmental services. Based in Houston, Waste Management serves municipal, commercial, industrial, and residential customers throughout the United States and Canada. The company employs about 150 people in Northeast Pennsylvania.
