Talking Trash

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Our Recycling Center took home the gold!

Our Recycling Center received the Solid Waste Association of North America Waste Reduction, Recycling and Composting Division’s Recycling Systems’ 2007 Gold Excellence Award!

This morning, the Montgomery County Council presented us with proclamations to recognize this award.

The Recycling Center's recent accomplishments include:

• accruing approximately $3.4 million in revenue from commingled [cans, bottles, and jars] materials -- that's nearly $185,000 more than the facility’s operating expenses
• providing recycling education and offered facility tours to 4,576 visitors.

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CATEGORIES: Recycling , News
POSTED: 2:18:00 PM |

Friday, January 18, 2008

Can I recycle a dirty bottle?

From our mailbag:

If someone has stuffed a napkin or other items inside a bottle or can—and the items cannot be removed—can the bottle still be recycled at your facility?

Thanks for your question, B.!

Yes, our Recycling Center can accept bottles and cans with items inside them.

Here's why:

The bottles and cans are sent to intermediate processors where the materials are cleaned and items such as napkins that may have accompanied the material are removed.  This process is similar to removing the paper labels from the containers at these intermediate processing facilities.

So, keep giving us those cans and bottles, even if they have extra items tucked inside!  Each can and bottle makes a positive difference towards meeting our County recycling goals.

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CATEGORIES: Mailbag , Plastic , Recycling , Recycling Center
POSTED: 3:52:00 PM |

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Our January 2008 TRRAC Newsletter is available

TRRAC is our program for recycling and waste reduction at apartment and condominium properties. 

The January 2008 issue covers:

• A detailed look at our television recycling program
• Tips on completing your Annual Recycling Report
• A recycling rate update
• Ideas for celebrating Earth Day in April

Interested in reading back issues?  Visit our TRRAC Newsletter Archive.

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CATEGORIES: Apartments/Condo Recycling (TRRAC) , News
POSTED: 11:21:00 AM |

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday - modified schedules

Montgomery County-provided recycling and trash collections

Monday, January 21, 2008 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday  - is a recycling and trash collection holiday. After the holiday, all County-provided recycling and trash collections will be one day later than normal during the week of January 21.

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.

Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

Shady Grove Transfer Station

• closed: Monday, January 21, 2008
• reopens: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
• Transfer Station hours and other details

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CATEGORIES: Holidays , News , Transfer Station
POSTED: 3:16:00 PM |

Saturday, January 12, 2008

From pretty Christmas trees to marvelous mulch

What happens to your Christmas tree after it is whisked away from your curb for recycling?

Yard trim trucks carrying leaves, grass, and brush -- and Christmas trees! -- enter the Solid Waste Transfer Station through its Truck Entrance.

After weighing in on the scales, the trucks head over to the Yard Trim area.

Look at that big pile of yard trim and trees!    See those paper yard trim bags?  They will be ground up right along with their contents. 

Here is the grinder at work.

The pile of yard trim and trees is in the foreground of this photo; the resulting mulch pile is in the background.  With the remainder of the autumn leaves, and now the Christmas trees, in the mix, January and February are excellent times to come and take home some of our mulch. 

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CATEGORIES: Recycling , Transfer Station , Yard Trim
POSTED: 1:48:00 PM |

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

How do I dispose of an artificial Christmas tree?

A Happy New Year to all of you!

From a Live Help chat to us:

What is the prescribed way to dispose of an old artificle / fake metal Christmas tree? Thanks.

Actually, thank you for the opportunity to add to the information on our Christmas tree recycling web page.

Here is the information I have added to the Christmas tree page...

If you have Montgomery County-provided trash collection service

If you have Montgomery County-provided trash service, please request a bulk trash pickup for your artificial Christmas tree at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/bulktrash or 240-777-6410.

If you have privately-provided trash service

If you have privately-provided trash service because you or your homeowners' association have direct contract with a company, please check with your collection company for instructions.

If your artificial tree is still in usable condition

If your artificial Christmas tree is still in usable condition, consider offering it to a fellow community member on your local Freecycle Network group.

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CATEGORIES: Mailbag , Recycling , Trash
POSTED: 1:47:00 PM |