LETS DO MORE IN 2004!
I know I sometimes sound like a broken record on this subject, but it is really near and dear to my heart and important to my community. Recycling is the right thing to do and we need to do more of it. Our citizens have the opportunity to recycle: at the curb in the City 236-4580; at one of the 7 remote garbage/recycling sites in the County 236-2495 including Walker Mountain Landfill 291- 4512; and our newest site soon to replace the currently cramped Silver Creek site. This new Midway site will be just off of Wax Road and will be one of the larger and best set up sites in the State. And, as always, drop off at the Recycling Center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 291-5266. Now our challenge as environmentally conscientious citizens is to take advantage of as many of these recycling opportunities as possible.
As a result of a Grant from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority and an additional $ 26,000 from the County budget, we now have two recycling compactor trucks and two drivers to offer even more paper recycling pick up for businesses throughout the City and County. This program brought in almost 2 ½ million pounds of paper in 2003 and we hope to double that number in 2004. If you are a business and are interested in diverting a large portion of your waste stream, office paper and corrugated boxes, into a more productive, more cost effective and more environmentally responsible stream, call the Recycling Center to arrange getting on our route. There is no charge for this service.
Now, some good news and some bad news. Beginning February 1, 2004 the Recycling Center will no longer be taking any household hazardous wastes at our location this includes paint and all related products, fluorescent bulbs and ballasts, batteries auto and household, oil and antifreeze. These materials need to be handled by people properly trained to deal with them which is what happens at our annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds. The good news here is that we are going to be able to offer our citizens 2 Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days this year one in the Spring and one in the Fall. With this new system, no one will have to wait a full year if they miss the One Day Event. As usual, we will heavily advertise the exact dates and times of the events.
Like every other government agency, we are being asked to trim our operating budget as tightly as possible. Our current operating hours require that a number of our employees work a schedule with many built in overtime hours. These hours put a strain on our resources so we are changing our schedule to address this issue. The bad news is that we will be closing earlier. The good news is that we will be opening up earlier in the mornings and will now be open on Mondays for everyone. Beginning February 1, 2004, our new hours will be Monday Friday 8:00 3:30 and Saturday 8:00 2:00. Visit our website at www.romefloydrecycles.org for more detailed information.