Comments on: Decatur Recycling Now Accepting Some Pizza Boxes

By: tpreed

tpreed — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:55:16 +0000

Lena, thank you for the clarification.

By: Lena

Lena — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:30:33 +0000

I can certainly understand that frustration, and I apologize for the conflicting messages. Latham Home Sanitation is the hauler for our recyclable items, while SP Recycling is the processor they work with. What we can and cannot put in our bins in Decatur is dictated by the materials the SP is able to process and resell. While Latham works hard to remain updated on the list of acceptable materials, there does appear to have been some mis-communication on this issue. I have contacted SP Recycling directly and they have confirmed that plastic/wax coated cartons are not acceptable at this time. They are working on a strategy that may allow them to accept this material in the future.

Knowing what to recycle can be tricky sometimes, and we very much appreciate your efforts to become educated on these matters. Decatur currently recycles around 20% of it’s municipal solid waste, and composts another 20%. We want to grow those numbers, and continue to divert more and more waste from landfills.

By: tpreed

tpreed — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:52:57 +0000

After I thought I had it all figured out your telling me that we can’t put the juice and milk cartons in recycling. If you scroll read my earlier post above I got an email reply to this exact question from Bear Keeling at Latham Home Sanitation and he said it was okay to recycle these containers. So what gives, isn’t Latham doing the city’s recycling or is SP dictating what can go in the recycle bins? I though SP onld recycles newsprint.

By: Lena

Lena — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:48:22 +0000

Holly, you may leave the bottle tops on. They have new technology that pops them off!

By: Lena

Lena — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:45:35 +0000

First of all I would like to thank all of you for putting so much thought into best practices for recycling. I am continually impresses by the sustainability efforts of residents, businesses, and government employees in my new hometown. As the City’s Resource Conservation Coordinator I think I can address a few of the questions that have come up in this thread.

Pizza Boxes- They are acceptable as Beth said. Use your judgement, and make sure that they have minimal food contamination. I usually rip off the top if I feel the bottom is too greasy. Big thanks to Beth for bringing the issue to my attention.

Plastic/Wax Coated Paper: These types of cartons CANNOT be recycled at this time. SP Recycling has told me that they are looking into a partnership that may allow them to accept these next year, at which point they will update me on the change. This means that cartons for things like juice or soy milk should be put in the trash.

In regards to the funding model for the the residential recycling pick up, we currently contract with a private hauler and do not receive any direct financial benefits from the processing company. We continually renegotiate the contract to ensure that we are offering high quality service at the lowest possible cost. Recently we were able to reduce the hauling fees due in part to increases in the market prices for recyclables.

We will definitely take the Recycling 101 suggestion into consideration. i think it’s a great idea! If you have any other questions or ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Lena Stevens
Resource Conservation Coordinator
lena.stevens@decaturga.com
678-553-6577