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The mobile recycling pickup locations in Polk County are located at Harmon Field on Mondays, in Saluda on Tuesdays, Green Creek Fire Dept. on Wednesdays and in Columbus behind the historical museum and First Citizens’ Bank on Thursdays. All pickups are from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

 

In this letter, I’d like to talk about what is not recyclable since there is considerable confusion here. The key word is containers. The plastic that is recyclable is in the form of containers that hold either food or household products. These have the numbers 1 – 7 stamped in a triangle on the bottom. Virtually all other plastic like coat hangers, packing, bubble wrap, drinking straws, plastic implements, plastic bags, styrofoam etc. are not recyclable even if they have a triangle.

 

The following metal items are not recyclable at the truck: coat hangers, hardware, tin foil or tin pie pans, other metal tools or gadgets. All metal is recyclable at the landfill. Containers either metal or plastic that have held poison, pesticides, herbicides, gasoline, anti-freeze, etc. are not recyclable.

 

Our recyclable categories are as follows:

• Aluminum drink cans 
• Plastic containers and steel cans together
• Glass (bottles only)
• Corrugated cardboard 
• Mixed paper (includes books, magazines, paper in any form)

 

Some other items that have caused confusion are other aluminum cans like cat food cans. They go in with the plastic. Glass, other than glass bottles that have held food or household products, is not recyclable. Examples are ceramics, drinking glasses, window glass, mirrors etc. 

 

We also take all kinds of batteries except car batteries and all kinds of light bulbs. Electronics are not accepted at the truck. They need to be brought to the landfill where there is a $10 charge to leave them.

 

Submitted by Dan Dworkin