PLASTICS RECYCLING

Beginning Friday, December 19, 2008, the Athens Recycling Center will begin accepting Types #1-7 plastic containers for recycling. Plastic shopping bags will also be accepted and recycled.

A rear-load garbage truck will be placed at the Recycling Center for the collection of plastics. Please place your recyclables in the rear of this truck.

Please make certain that each plastic item is rinsed free of any food or liquids. This will ensure a "clean" load of plastic. The vendor will not accept loads of plastic that contain garbage, debris of food solids mixed in with the plastic.

ELECTRONICS RECYCLING

Beginning in January of 2008, boxes were placed at the Athens Recycling Center for the drop off of electronic devices to be recycled.

Acceptable items include: computer equipment such as CPU's, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, scanners, laptops, modems, hard drives, speakers, power cords, cables, copiers and fax machines.

According to "Recycling Solutions," as many as 500 million computers could be disposed of in landfills. If this comes to pass, more than 1.2 billion pounds of lead, 2 million pounds of cadmium and 400,000 pounds of mercury may be dumped into the waste stream, and potentially our water supply.

aaaaaaaaCARDBOARD RECYCLING

In an effort to reduce the amount of cardboard being deposited in the McMinn County Landfill by Athens residents, the Public Works Department instituted a new program designed to accomplish this goal.

Dumpsters, modified for the purpose of accepting cardboard only, have been placed at the five Athens City Schools: City Park, Ingleside, North City, Westside and the Athens Junior High School. These dumpsters are open for use by residents of Athens.

Cardboard recycling in Athens has nearly doubled since this program was implemented. Keep up the good work, Athens!

According to "Recycling Solutions," Americans throw away enough wood and paper every year to heat five million homes for two years. By recycling one ton of cardboard, we can save approximately 9 cubic yards of landfill space.

STEEL & TIN CAN RECYCLING

A container has been placed at the Recycling Center for the collection of steel and tin cans. Please place your discarded cans in the container provided.

Please make certain that each can is rinsed free of any food or liquid, and that labels are removed. This will ensure a "clean" load of material for recycling. The vendor will not accept loads of tin and steel that have garbage, debris or food solids mixed in with the recyclables.

COOKING OIL RECYCLING

Beginning in September 2008, the Athens Recycling Center began accepting used cooking oil for recycling.

A container has been placed at the Recycling Center for the collection of used cooking oil. Please place your used cooking oil in the container provided. Please make sure that used cooking oil is as free of food remnants as possible.

By accepting used cooking oil, the City of Athens will strive to reduce the amount of pollutants in our local waterways. Cooking oil can make its way into a stream or river following a storm event, during which storm water can transport cooking oil and many other pollutants into local water bodies. By initiating this program, the City of Athens hopes to help educate residents while making a difference in the community.

GLASS RECYCLING

The Athens Recycling Center is proud to offer glass recycling services.

Containers have been placed at the Recycling Center for the collection of glass. Please note that the boxes are marked for different colors of glass. There is a separate collection box for clear glass, brown glass and glass of other colors.

*Please use care when placing your glass into these boxes. We strive to avoid injuries, and are advising Recycling Center patrons that flying shards of broken glass from bottles tossed into the collection boxes can be hazardous.

 

 

As a reminder, the Recycle Center continues to receive the following items: newsprint, paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, automotive batteries, motor oil and electronics.