We spoke with Megan O’Leary, spokeswoman for Montgomery County Environmental Services, about another way to clean your garage and help the environment at the same time.
Last month, we told you about the Montgomery County Environmental Services tire recycling event. This weekend they will have another recycling event. This is for Styrofoam used for packaging and shipping. She spoke with Megan O’Leary, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Environmental Service, about another way to clean your garage and help the environment at the same time.
Megan O’Leary: Suppose you receive a product packaged in a small Styrofoam peanut, or a new appliance packaged in Styrofoam. That’s not acceptable in your curb recycling. It’s not really a recyclable item. And when you throw it away, which is the proper disposal method at the moment, it will take hundreds, if any, years to decompose in a landfill. Therefore, these Styrofoam recycling events are a great way to divert Styrofoam from landfills.
We have launched a Styrofoam recycling event in January 2021. In fact, since that first event, we’ve seen amazing turnouts every time we do it.
At our last event, we collected over 5,000 pounds of Styrofoam. Considering how light and airy the Styrofoam itself is, 5,000 pounds of condensed stuff is a lot.
Mike Frazier: What is recycled Styrofoam?
O’Leary: We partner with Eco Development. i need to give them a shout out. They are based in Mason, Ohio, and Eco Development is a Styrofoam hauling and processing company. They melt it down and then reuse it for other items such as picture frames, surfboards, and other packing materials.
This is the brainchild of some people in our Environmental Learning Center and Solid Waste Department. Together they really saw the need to repurpose Styrofoam from the waste stream and repurpose it into something new.
Frazier: Interesting. I thought many solid waste districts everywhere do this too. But this may be unique to Montgomery County.
O’Leary: Yeah it’s unique. I don’t know of any other waste district in our district that does this. As you know, we all have the same goal of making the planet a truly livable place. And, you know, frankly, Styrofoam is so dense yet lightweight that it never breaks down, leaving room for other stuff in landfills. , which frees up more space for other items. The program just won an award.
Frazier: Do you accept any kind of Styrofoam?
O’Leary: When styrofoam is used in food containers, it may become contaminated based on grease or the food material may migrate into the porous styrofoam. Therefore, we ask residents not to bring in food containers. And I know it’s kind of hard. As you know, so many takeout places have Styrofoam takeout containers. But we really encourage people not to bring them in.
Frazier: When is the next Styrofoam recycling event?
O’Leary: The next Styrofoam recycling event will be held at Wegerzen’s Gardens MetroPark at 1301 East Siebenthaler in Dayton on October 15th from 9am to 1pm.
We try to do them quarterly. So I think there are events for each season. So you could say it’s January, April, July-ish, and October-ish. And they are strategically placed. As you know, the January stuff is specifically for post-holiday consumer goods.
What usually happens is a Styrofoam recycling event. The traffic is so heavy that now drivers don’t even have to get out of their cars. We have enough volunteers to take out the styrofoam and put it in the cicada without getting out of people’s cars.
Another great thing about these events is that you don’t have to be a Montgomery County resident. I have someone from Columbus. I have someone from Cincinnati. People from very rural communities came. And it really gained a lot of awareness. And I think people are starting to realize that they need to divert it from landfills and that we’re a good option for that.
It was Megan O’Leary, public relations officer for the Montgomery County Environmental Service. A Styrofoam recycling event will be held this Saturday (October 15) from 9am to 1pm at her Wegerzyn’s Gardens MetroPark on Siebenthaler Road. A similar event will also be held in Clark County. See here for details on that event.
