TO SORT OR NOT TO SORT?

– that is the question we are asked all the time. Before I answer the question, let’s look at the impacts of sorting and not sorting recyclables brought to the Recycling Center.

Our main job at the Recycling Center is to receive your recyclables, process them and then send them off to “markets”. These markets are the plants and mills that take the recyclables and manufacture new products from them. Depending on what their end product is, the mills set certain standards for quality to meet their objectives. It is our responsibility to see that the materials we send to those markets meet their standards so that we will receive the highest possible price for the load. We consider it important to get this highest possible price for our materials so that our revenues will offset as much of the Recycling Center’s operating costs as possible. Any part of our budget that is not able to be covered by our revenues has to be paid for with tax dollars – from both City and County taxes.

Our goal is to operate the facility as cost effectively as possible and constantly strive to pay for our entire budget through revenues earned by sending our materials to market.

What does all this have to do with “to sort or not to sort”? Simply this, if you don’t bring it to us sorted, then we have to do it before we can process the material and send it to market. As you know from you own recycling experience, sorting takes time. But can you even imagine how much time it would take us at the Recycling Center to sort the amount of materials we deal with every day? We receive over 1,000,000 pounds of recyclables every month and if all of those pounds arrived at the Recycling Center unsorted, or commingled together, we would not have the time or manpower to sort, process and ship everything out meeting the standards of the markets. Fortunately, most of the recyclables come to us basically sorted.

The materials brought from the Curbside program are delivered “mostly” sorted. The materials that are brought from the Floyd County remote collection sites are also delivered “mostly sorted”. Both of these programs do require some separating – the aluminum and steel cans are in the same compartment and have to be sorted out from each other. These two sources account for almost 25% of the total volume that we receive.

The materials from the Business section and our Commercial Collection route are all sorted. This represents just over 54% of our total volume.

The materials from our Cash customers are completely sorted – a requirement for payment for the recyclables. Approximately 2% of our volume comes from this category. Another 3% comes form our Donations category and these materials are also completely sorted – again required for credit to be given to a charitable or non profit organization.

Non-paid drop offs and after hours drop offs are where we have the biggest problem with handling unsorted recyclables. These two areas represent approximately 17% of the total volume brought into the Recycling Center and are the least sorted and most heavily contaminated materials that we receive. As a result, this material requires excessive time and manpower to handle, affecting our ability to operate efficiently in this area. 17% of 1,000,000 pounds per month means that we struggle with sorting approximately 170,000 pounds of commingled recyclables each month, or an average of 6,000 pounds per day.

The hardest thing we deal with are the loose materials that people leave after hours. If those recyclables were just bagged up we would be able to pick them up faster and get them into the building and sorted into our bins much more efficiently. Clearing off the after hours sidewalk area would be a dream if the materials left there were just bagged up and it would dramatically reduce the loose trash that the wind picks up and blows across to our neighbors. If those bags contained sorted recyclables, it would have such a positive impact on our operation that it would be noticeable to everyone. We would be able to clean up that front area each morning, even during the holidays. The “door guys” would be more available to help customers unload their cars and trucks, and our bottom line would be more cost effective. So, to answer the question – To sort or not to sort? – please let your answer be YES when bringing materials to the Recycling Center.