When bringing your paper and cardboard to the collection sites for recycling, it is important not to put waste into these bins. Styrofoam and the plastic that often surrounds an item packed in a cardboard box, contaminates the material and makes it difficult, sometimes impossible for processors to recycle. Contamination in the recycle stream reduces the marketability and may even result in no market value at all. It is best to flatten any cardboard boxes, so more boxes can be placed into the recycle collection bin. Flattening them also reminds you to remove any contaminants such as the Styrofoam and plastic.
So what happens to the paper and cardboard? Once collected, it is baled and then shipped to a processor to be made into new products such as boxboard, cardboard, roofing felt and recycled paper. Each tonne of recycled paper can save 17 trees 1,440 litres of oil, 2.3 cubic metres of landfill space 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 26,500 litres of water. The average family wastes about 65 kilograms of paper a year by throwing it in the garbage instead of recycling. Your support of the paper and cardboard program by keeping bins contamination-free is greatly appreciated.
Did You Know?
Dumping your garbage on roads and in ditches is illegal and carries a $2000 fine in Beaver County. Our staff are sometimes faced with piles of garbage illegally dumped outside our transfer stations, placed there during nonoperating hours. There are several solutions that residents can use if the transfer station nearest to them is closed. First, check our website (www.beavermunicipal.com) for other transfer station locations and the days that they are open. The opening days of these sites have been staggered to allow residents in the area more than one option. Alternatively, garbage can be brought directly to the landfill site in Ryley. Another option for rural residents is to request a 3 yard waste collection bin be placed at your site and for a small fee our collection staff can pick it up once a month. This way, you can place your garbage in the bin each day and not worry about having to transport it.
If you have questions, please call our office at 780.663.2038 and we would be delighted to help you out.
