In the midst of the holiday season, the executive director for Keep Bartow Beautiful and sustainability coordinator for Bartow County, GA government is busy promoting the economic and environmental benefits of recycling. “Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s are festive times, but they are also times when we buy so many heavily packaged items,” Henshaw said. “… Make sure you set up recycling stations in your home for this time of year, as your gift to Mother Earth. The busiest day of the year at the county’s collection and recycling centers is Dec. 26, the day after Christmas, when everyone cleans out all those boxes, wrapping paper, plastic wrap and food containers. “Two-thirds of what you throw away can be recycled, including all cardboard boxes, tin and aluminum cans, plastic milk and juice jugs and drink containers, even your live Christmas trees, minus those lights and decorations.”
Also urging the public to take part, Bartow County Solid Waste Director Rip Conner shared the advantages of recycling are multifaceted. “The argument to recycle today is the same that it has been all along,” Conner said. “By doing so, you save valuable natural resources, energy and it also saves airspace in the landfill. In 2017, we recycled approximately 2,500 tons of material at our recycling center. Most of that was sold to local vendors for use in their various manufacturing processes, which of course allows those businesses to continue to prosper and keep employees working.
“The sale of recyclables in 2017 generated $322,327.83. That revenue paid for the expenses of operating the recycling center, but more importantly, it also paid for three full-time employees and two sheriff’s deputies from the Bartow County Jail and their inmate details that work in the recycling center.”
Along with promoting the accepted items, Conner and Henshaw also are spreading the word that glass is no longer a recycled material in Bartow.
“Locally, there really hasn’t been a change of recycling practices with the exception of accepting glass,” he said. “Historically, we’ve always recycled aluminum and steel containers, No. 1 and No. 2 plastic, cardboard, paper, scrap metal and scrap tires and will continue to do so. We no longer accept or recycle glass. A couple of years ago, we loaded 33 tons of glass, sorted by color, over the course of eight to nine months, to a local glass recycler. Three trucks and drivers spent five hours taking the material to the plant. At the end of the day, we received a check for a little over $850.
“The recycled glass market has been down for several years and it doesn’t appear that it will rebound anytime soon. Also, glass is hard on our equipment. Broken glass is essentially sand. Imagine taking some sandpaper to your new shiny car. That’s what it does to our equipment.”
Highlighting its worth, Henshaw referred to the recyclable pieces of trash as “valuable” commodities.
“I encourage the community to recycle because it is good for the economy … and it is good for the environment,” she said. “When we take the students on a field trip to the landfill and recycling center, a program we coordinate with Bartow County Solid Waste, we compare and contrast the difference. We compare the landfill, which is virtually a ‘graveyard’ where waste goes to die and never see the light of day again, to the recycling center, where each piece of ‘trash’ is a valuable commodity that can become something new, such as a paint bucket, car part, comic book or game board.
“And every time we reuse an item, such as cardboard, we preserve something else, such as a tree. … Recycling is easy, once you get the hang of it. The city of Cartersville has convenient curbside recycling, and can provide more information on their program by calling Cartersville Public Works at 770-387-5602. The city recycles the same items as Bartow County, and their collections come to our recycling center in a great cooperative effort. The city of Emerson has a drop-off bin behind City Hall for residents, while the county has 13 conveniently located recycling sites for any residents inside Bartow County.”