OFFICE PAPER RECYCLING PROGRAM

The EPA estimates that, on average, 3 pounds of paper per day are thrown away by every office employee. In some offices paper is the largest percentage of the waste generated . We discovered that many companies wanted to recycle their office paper as well as their corrugated boxes but they didn’t have the personnel or vehicle to bring this paper to us for recycling. In an effort to keep this paper from going to the landfill, the Rome/Floyd Recycling Center asked for some grant money from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to implement an office paper/corrugated pick up program. In 1997 they gave us $ 18,000 to pay for a driver for 6 months, purchase some bags and pay for repairs and gas on a vehicle. The City of Rome gave the Recycling Center one of their compactor trucks headed for surplus to use on the route and we began collecting paper that Spring. The route was growing so quickly that a year later the City gave us another truck and with the help of a borrowed driver from Floyd County Public Works we were able to meet the demands of the rapidly growing route.

In 2001 the Recycling Center purchased a new pick up/dump truck to better handle the office paper part of the route, and in 2002 we purchased a new compactor truck for the corrugated part of the route. Now, through another grant from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, we are purchasing a second compactor truck and hiring a second full time driver and expanding this service. To date, this route has collected over 8 million pounds of paper. With our new truck and driver we hope to double those amounts within a few years while providing better, more reliable service to our customers.

How does it work? All you need to do is call Dawn Blackston, our Route Coordinator, to sign up for the program. Some of the companies we service are put on a scheduled route for weekly pick up and some customers call us when they need a pick up. We will send you information on exactly what types of paper can be put into the office paper recycling program, make arrangements to get recycling bags to your office and set up a pick up schedule. Almost all of the paper generated in an office is acceptable in this program – not just white or computer paper. For the corrugated part of the route, all you need to do is determine a good place to put the boxes outside for pickup (OK for boxes to get wet) and make sure that they are clean – no plastic, Styrofoam or trash in the boxes. The location must be accessible for our truck to get to easily.

This service is free to any company in Rome and Floyd County and we encourage you to contact us for more information. Many companies have found that by recycling these paper items they have been able to greatly reduce the amount of trash they have to pay to have hauled to the landfill thereby reducing their operating expenses. Additionally, these companies set excellent examples of environmentally appropriate waste handling practices. For more information, contact the Recycling Center at 291-5266 or rfrecycl@roman.net.