Steve Schweigart, left, manages the St. Petersburg plant that processes 9,000 tons of blue-cart recyclables each month. Travis Barnes, right, will be in SCC April 26 to talk about Hillsborough County’s trash collection program. The tank he holds is an example of “unacceptable” items. Bill Hodges photos.
Do you put plastic bags and film in the blue trash recycling cart? DON’T! How about shredded paper? Styrofoam? NO to both.
Learn more at an upcoming free community seminar. Travis Barnes, Hillsborough Country recycling coordinator, will be talking about problems caused at the recycling plant from several no-no’s that make their way into the blue carts. He will have some enlightening information about the automated trash collection program started in Sun City Center two years ago
The SCC Woman’s Club is sponsoring the Tuesday, April 26, 2 p.m. meeting in observance of Earth Day in the Atrium’s Florida Room. It’s an open-to-the-public meeting — and they are serving cookies and punch.
Club President Rosie Clifton said they wanted to have the meeting on the actual Earth Day (April 22), but that didn’t work. She said they will have some unusual door prizes. Each attendee will be eligible for a couple of unique baskets. One will be filled with examples of accepted recyclables — with a $50 gift card tucked in it; the other will be examples of items not acceptable for recycling — with a $25 gift card.
Plastic bags and film cause equipment jams. Residents are asked to NOT put plastic in the blue carts. This is a change from guidelines two years ago when the county started automated trash collection.
One major point Barnes will make is to adhere to an updated list of acceptable items for the blue carts – and why. The new list deletes plastic bags and packaging. That’s because these items can jam the equipment.
The list also emphasizes that items should be loose (not bagged), as well as clean and dry. Heavily soiled and soggy items are a big problem because they attract bugs and rodents during processing. The end result: recycled trash is rejected by buyers because of contaminated shipments; processing costs rise; and eventually, increased costs trickle down to you.
It helps to make sense of it all if you understand that there are different processes/plants, with equipment designed to process specific materials. For example, the plastic and Styrofoam that you deposit in the grocery store receptacles are sent to a plant with equipment designed to handle it.
Barnes’ advice: “If in doubt, leave it out.”
The Hillsborough County website has a detailed list of items that can be recycled in the blue cart and common items that should not be placed in them. Access the site at www.hillsboroughcounty.org/recycling and select Solid Waste Disposal Guide.
Apparently the program has been a success. Since the blue-cart recycling program began in 2013 (SCC in 2014), county residents have doubled the amount of material getting recycled, with a total of 62,989 tons of residential curbside recyclables being collected last year.
Progressive Waste Solutions in St. Petersburg handles Hillsborough and Pinellas County blue cart contents — about 9,000 tons per month. Want to see the plant? A video tour is on You Tube; just search for Progressive Waste Single Stream Recycling System Tampa FL.
Put it on your calendar now: Woman’s Club Trash Talk Seminar, Tuesday, April 26, 2 p.m., in the Atrium’s Florida Room, 1009 N. Pebble Beach Blvd.