COMMENTARY
If you really care about recyling, there’s a solution If your coating and their lids, polystyrene foam neighborhood and plastic to-go containers and cups, has curbside food and beverage containers made of trash pick-up, wax or plastic coated paper, electronics, you probably batteries, anything containing hazardCarol a marketing consultant who lives on the Dunwoody-Sandy Springs line haveNiemi a issepaousand waste, appliances, furniture, books, writes about people whose lives inspire others. Contact her at worthknowingnow@gmail.com. rate bin with bicycles, clothing and textiles and almost a yellow lid anything else you’d like to get rid of. just for recyTo make things even more confuscling. All your ing, you can’t trust the Mobius Loop (that recyclables go ubiquitous little triangle of three chasing into the same green arrows) because it means only that bin in a “single an item “might” be recyclable dependstream.” In my ing on where you live. Some recyclaBY CAROL NIEMI neighborhood, ble items, such as paper and cardboard on trash day, don’t bear the symbol at all. And on plasalmost every yellow-topped bin is packed tic items, the Mobius Loop may contain so full the lids don’t close. Unfortunately, a number from 1 to 7 indicating the type much of what’s in those Carol binsNiemi will probaof plastic an item is made from. You will is a marketing consultant who lives on the Dunwoodybly end up in a landfill. Sandy Springs line and writes about people whose lives inspire have to do some research to find out if Cynics say waste haulers others. don’tContact real- her at worthknowingnow@gmail.com. your curbside service accepts that particSandy Springs Recycling Center Executive ly recycle any of it. Though that may be ular plastic. Director Kathy Reed. (Peden Two Elk) happening in some neighborhoods today So why not just throw everything into because of a temporary labor shortage, your curbside recycling bin and let the most endless: glass, plastic bottle lids septhe real reason is that the local policies pros figure it out? Your waste hauler will arated from bottles, plastic lids to cans, governing what is and isn’t recyclable take everything to a MRF (municipal rewet or soiled paper, plastic bags, plasare so complicated most of us have no covery facility) where it’s sorted by hand tic wrap, bubble wrap, plastic sandwich clue. and machine. Some materials like glass bags, freezer bags, flexible packaging like The list of universally recyclable can be hazardous to humans and damchip bags and juice or soup pouches, garitems is simple: bottles, cans, paper and aging to the equipment. A bag that gets den hoses, rope, leashes, wire and string, cardboard. Easy? Not so fast. stuck can shut the whole MRF down. dirty diapers, cups with plastic or wax The list of what is not recyclable is alAnd if you put a dirty pizza box in your bin and it contaminates other items, all of it will end up in a landfill. Luckily, if you really care about recycling, there’s a solution. Just off Roswell Road on Morgan Falls Road, nestled against the rolling hills of the Steel Canyon Golf Club, formerly a Fulton County landfill, is the Sandy Springs Recycling Center, a joint project of Keep North Fulton Beautiful and the City of Sandy Springs. The SSRC accepts many items you would never consider putting in your recycling bin.
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Managed by Executive Director Kathy Reed, the facility operates with only four employees plus volunteers and others performing court-ordered community service. On my two visits there, I found it to be a clean, happy place. It also redefined what I thought was recyclable. At the SSRC, recyclable also means reusable. Besides for taking the usual, it also accepts glass, Christmas trees chipped into mulch, large household appliances, anything containing metal that can be used for scrap, batteries and electronics (some for a fee and some only from Sandy Springs residents). It also has partnerships with other non-profits that clean, refurbish and distribute to those in need other items that might otherwise end up in the trash. For example, an on-site American Kidney Fund truck collects clothing, shoes and small household goods. Free Bikes 4 Kidz refurbishes old bicycles. Better World Books finds new homes for old books. The Sandy Springs Rotary Club collects used home medical equipment for FODAC (Friends of Disabled Adults and Children) to refurbish for reuse. And fats, oils and grease are sent to a company that turns them into biodiesel fuel and glycerin. Certain plastics and papers are sold, funding 30 percent of the center’s operating expenses. And not everything is acceptable. To find out what is, visit https:// keepnorthfultonbeautiful.org. The Sandy Springs Recycling Center is open 9:00 am – 5:00 pm daily except Wednesday and Sunday. Someone is always there to help you. The address is 470 Morgan Falls Road. A fringe benefit of taking your recyclables there is that if you keep driving, you can visit the beautiful park at Morgan Falls.
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14 MARCH 2022 | REPORTER NEWSPAPERS
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