Landfill accepts recycling, increases options
Trending
Another location for Marshall County for residential recycling to divert materials from the landfill became available this year.
In March, the Marshall County Landfill began accepting number one and number two plastics, tin, paper, cardboard and glass directly at their site for recycling.
"We just thought it would be good to give folks another outlet for recycling materials," Marshall County Landfill Manager Don Ballalatak said. "It kind of gives them a bigger window that will hopefully work with their schedule. That would be one of the main reasons, we just wanted to give folks that couldn't make it out to 12th Street Recycling during their open hours, they could come out here on a day when they are available so we can take care of their needs."
The Marshall County Landfill, 2313 Marshalltown Blvd., is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday with Saturday hours being 8 a.m. to noon. Customers can bring recyclable materials to the landfill during regular business hours, but first must stop in the scale house to pay a minimum fee of $5.
Ballalatak said accepting recyclable items has helped divert those materials from the landfill itself, but still sees recyclable items show up in the landfill that are supposed to be banned.
"We try to educate folks when they come through, 'Hey that can be recycled,'" he said. "Unfortunately, it's just part of the deal, not everybody's willing to take the time to clean the materials or take them to the spot or pay that little bit of money."
Since March, the landfill has collected 4.84 tons of cardboard and 1.83 tons of plastic, tin and paper. They have averaged 52 customers per month since accepting recycling.
"We didn't know what to expect, we just wanted to have it available," Ballalatak said.
He said unfortunately the landfill has seen a number of non-recyclable items in their drop off containers.
"For the most part, people that recycle do a good job, it's just a constant education," Ballalatak said.
The most common prohibited items showing up in the bins are plastic grocery sacks filled with recyclable items. Ballalatak asks for customers to dump out the materials instead of leaving them in the sacks before drop off.
Glass, cans and plastics need to be rinsed clean before drop off. Only plastic containers with a number one or number two, usually indicated on the bottom of the container, can be recycled. Cans need their labels and lids removed, with flattening encouraged to save space. Glass items do not need labels removed, but broken items, drinking glasses, light bulbs, window glass, mirror glass, Pyrex or crystal can be recycled. Cardboard must be no larger than two feet by four feet to fit into the containers and must be flattened and emptied to conserve room. The cardboard cannot be contaminated with grease, such as pizza boxes, or be wax coated in order to be recycled.
The materials are then taken to Mid-Iowa Workshops for processing.
"I think it's just been a good partnership so far," Ballalatak said. "I'm looking forward to see the numbers hopefully grow."
------
Contact Trevor Babcockat 641-753-6611 or babcock@timesrepublican.com.