JULY 2, 2009 ISSUE
Don’t Throw It Away!
Boone Curbside Recycling Now Accepts Pasteboard, Expands Business Program
Good news, Boone residents and businesses. The Town of Boone curbside recycling program now accepts pasteboard!
Perhaps you just pondered, “Well, what the heck is pasteboard?” Pasteboard includes cereal, soda, beer, dry food, office supply and shoe boxes, as well as toilet paper and paper towel rolls and brown paper bags. However, wax-coated pasteboard such as juice and milk cartons, pizza boxes and frozen food boxes cannot be accepted. If the product requires refrigeration or freezing, it cannot be recycled.
Have you been misguidedly tossing those items in the recycling for years? Or have you felt a pang of guilt from reluctantly throwing these seemingly recyclable items in with the rest of the garbage? Fret no longer. The new pasteboard recycling program began on Wednesday, July 1.
Pasteboard can now be accepted thanks to the town’s new three-year contract with GDS, Inc. In its request for contract bids, the town stipulated that pasteboard recycling be included as part of the new contract, said Marsha Story, recycling program coordinator for the Boone Public Works Department.
“Pasteboard is a sizable component of our waste stream, and our goal is to reduce the impact on our landfills by reusing and recycling as much as possible,” Story said in a press release.
Pasteboard is now accepted in both the residential and business curbside recycling programs. Pasteboard is considered a mixed paper item and can be included in your recycling bin along with other paper recyclables. Remember to break down or flatten all brown paper bags and boxes prior to putting them in your recycling bin.
Do not confuse pasteboard with corrugated cardboard, which is comprised of layers of board designed for strength and durability. Residential customers can only recycle corrugated cardboard at the Boone Public Works Center, located at 321 East King Street.
And there’s more good news. As part of the new contract with GDS, the town’s curbside recycling for businesses has been expanded to include all businesses within the corporate city limits. The program previously only served businesses located downtown.
Residential curbside recycling in Boone is divided into four routes, with collection days on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday depending on the route. Wednesday is reserved for business curbside collection only. Story said it remains to be seen whether additional business curbside collection days will be necessary.
Curbside recycling is only offered to residents and businesses located within the corporate city limits. However, anyone is welcome to use the recycling containers at the GDS facility, located at 300 Brookhollow Road in Boone.
Watauga County residents and businesses outside of the Boone city limits can sort and deposit recyclable items at one of 10 convenience centers. Additional items are accepted at the Watauga County Transfer Station, located at 336 Landfill Road off Highway 421.
The transfer station began accepting pasteboard for recycling several months ago, said Lisa Doty, Watauga County recycling coordinator.
“It’s been real popular,” Doty said. “We wish we could do it at all of our sites.”
The transfer station also accepts electronic items for recycling, including computers, hard drives, monitors, laptops, televisions, VCR/DVD players, phones, fax machines and more. Other new items that can be recycled include batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), which can be recycled at any convenience center.
Recycling containers for cans and bottles are also located at county recreational facilities.
For more information about the Boone curbside recycling program and Public Works Center hours, call 828-268-6230 or click to www.townofboone.net/departments/public_works/sanitation.php. For more information about Watauga County recycling and convenience center hours, call 828-265-4852 or click to www.wataugacounty.org/sanitation/recycling.html.
New Recycling Laws in NC
Several new recycling laws are scheduled to take effect in North Carolina. As of October 1, 2009, North Carolina citizens are required by law to recycle plastic bottles.
“It is now going to be illegal to put plastic bottles in the trash,” said Lisa Doty, Watauga County recycling coordinator.
In addition, wooden pallets are required to be recycled or sorted with yard waste—they cannot be taken to the transfer station with other garbage, Doty said. Motor oil filters must also be recycled; you can take them to containers at convenience centers or the transfer station. Both of these requirements also take effect on October 1.
In 2011, televisions will be banned from landfills, and in 2012, all computer equipment will be banned from landfills.
“We just encourage people to really pay attention to those bans,” Doty said.
Boone and Watauga County Recycling
Below is a chart that summarizes the items accepted for recycling by the Town of Boone and Watauga County. Remember to rinse containers, remove lids and rings and flatten boxes and plastics.
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