OUR COUNTY
D. GARY DAVIS
COUNTY MAYOR
Plastic and Electronic Recycling Programs Are Successful
For many of us, recycling has become a part of our daily, or at least weekly, routine. It helps protect natural resources and save space in the County landfill while also conserving energy and water. For example, production of recycled paper uses 80% less water and 65% less energy and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production. If every American recycled his or her newspaper just one day a week, we would save about 36 million trees a year. For every four-foot stack of paper you recycle, you save a tree.
Bradley County’s paper recycling program has been in operation for about 20 years and the drop-off centers see a steady stream of dedicated recyclers. I am encouraged by the same kind of response to our new computer and plastic recycling programs.
The computer and electronics recycling program was launched in August, 2009. Since then, 14,866 pounds of electronics have been diverted from the County Landfill. Most of these items contain significant quantities of hazardous material and your support of this program is helping keep lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxins from leaking back into the environment through landfill leachate. Unfortunately, this program cannot accept Televisions or computer monitors (CRTs).
The computer/electronics recycling drop-off center is located at 3110 Peerless Road and is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 PM to 5 PM. This is the only electronics drop-off center available since the computers must be stored in a covered area.
The response to the County’s plastic recycling program has been outstanding since it was launched on May 24th of this year. Since that time 6,760 pounds of number 1 and 2 plastics have been kept out of the landfill.
The plastic recycling program operates through a partnership with the Orange Grove Center of Chattanooga, a private, non-profit organization serving adults and children with developmental disabilities. Orange Grove operates a regional Materials Recovery Facility and processes more than 1.5 million pounds of product each month. It employs more than 100 developmentally disabled workers and several academically at risk high school students. Their goal is to equip these folks with the skills they need to find employment in the community at large. By partnering with Bradley County, Orange Grove Center is able to increase its volume and maintain its commitment to helping the developmentally disabled citizens in the area.
The Orange Grove Center only accepts number 1 and 2 plastic which makes up 94 percent of all recycled plastic bottles. In an effort to avoid confusion at the County’s drop off centers, signs are posted on each roll-off to help citizens in sorting the materials. No other plastic is accepted. It’s important to sort the containers by category since one stray PVC bottle in a melt of 10,000 PET bottles can ruin the entire batch.
Number 1 plastic consists of soda and water bottles and some waterproof packaging. It is commonly known as PET plastic, or Polyethylene Terephthalate. Number 2 plastic is High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and is commonly found in milk jugs, detergent containers and oil bottles.
The County’s plastic recycling drop-off centers are located at 3110 Peerless Road and 234 Urbane Road. The Peerless Road center is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 1 PM to 5 PM. The urbane Road Center is open Tuesday and Thursday, 1 PM to 5 PM and Saturday 9-AM to 1 PM.
The 3rd drop-off site at the County Landfill is open Monday through Friday 7 AM to 4:30 PM and Saturday 7 AM to 3 PM. It accepts glass, aluminum drink cans, newspapers, mixed paper, light corrugated, cardboard as well as batteries, used oil and white goods.
As Bradley County Mayor, I am grateful for the citizen support of the County’s recycling efforts. For more information about these programs visit the county web site at www.bradleyco.netand click on the "Living” link.