Chatham County Recycling is looking for grant funding to help expand their operation. Employees who run the facility said during their normal hours of operation, they see close to 400 visitors a day. “Since our numbers have grown cardboard is one of the number one products,” said David Nash, Facility Manager for Chatham County Recycling. “It’s also the most difficult to manage because of its bulkiness and the difficulty of processing it.”
Nash has submitted a grant proposal for a second cardboard compacter to accommodate the volume. Anne Robinson works alongside Nash as the facility’s Outreach Coordinator, she’s also looking for federal dollars so citizens can start recycling car tires. “We’re actually in the middle of pursuing a grant with the Environmental Protection Division or EPD,” said Robinson.
Although they’re seeing more people use their services the waste issue still remains a statewide problem. In Georgia, nearly 2 million tons of household garbage ends up in landfills. “The issue becomes when consumers feel so guilty about consuming those things and not having anywhere to recycle them or throw them away,” said Robinson. “They start doing what I call wish cycling.”