TR PHOTO BY SUSANNA MEYER The Marshall County Landfill recently announced that a fifth plastic, such as yogurt cups and butter containers, will be eligible for recycling.
The Marshall County landfill previously only accepted No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, but now the landfill accepts No. 5 plastics, such as yogurt cups and butter containers, for recycling.
Community members often asked recycling education coordinator Jenn Clemann if the fifth plastic could be recycled, and until recently the answer was no. 1st place and her 2nd place plastics such as disposable water bottles and milk jugs were accepted, but 5th place plastics were not.
Clement wanted to find ways to improve the environment by getting more plastic recycled and out of landfills. MIW processes all commercial and household recycling in Marshall County and has agreed to accept additional plastics for sale as “mixed plastics.”
According to Clément and landfill manager Don Balaratak, the fifth plastic has slowly grown in popularity over the years, and as its popularity has grown so has the amount of plastic that ends up in landfills.
“This first started in the mid-to-late 80s and it was just number one and number two because they were making the most money from the recycling aspect,” Ballalatak said. increase. “It seems like he’s probably more popular with five than one or two these days.”
According to Clemann, a fifth plastic is used the most in packaging, and although these plastics were not accepted, they often ended up with other recyclables, leaving the rest of the luggage had to be separated from
Recycling policies vary from city to city, so new residents wanted to do their best by calling to find out about recycling policies and recycling items. Now that the policy has changed, Clement and Ballaratuck want to encourage everyone to start recycling #5 plastic, in addition to #1 and her #2 plastic.
“Especially the people who call and tell them they want to recycle and that’s fine. There were people who were really serious about recycling,” says Clemann.
While this change will mean more work for MIW and her team, Clemann said it’s something she’s happy to do to help the environment. While the policy on the fifth plastic has changed, Clément wanted to emphasize that Styrofoam is ambiguous and cannot be recycled.
“The biggest thing that can’t be recycled is Styrofoam. It’s marked as plastic and has a recyclable symbol on it, but Styrofoam isn’t something the Central Iowa Workshop can handle,” she said. Told.
In addition, recyclable items must be clean and dry before being placed in the trash. This is because the items are hand-sorted by his MIW team members.
“Rinse your belongings. We sort these ingredients by hand, so run them through the dishwasher with the rest of your dishes to ensure any food residue is removed. So use a machine for sorting.” We haven’t, so for the benefit of the people doing the sorting, I hope we can get it as clean as possible,” Clément said.
For a complete guide to what can and cannot be recycled, visit https://www.marshallcountylandfill.org/recycling-guide/ or contact the Marshall County Landfill with recycling inquiries at (641) 752-0646. Please call.
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Susanna Meyer 641-753-6611 or
smeyer@timesrepublican.com.
