New Initiative on Recycling

A joint county and community organization efforts

By Frank Bradley

With the idea of getting serious about recycling, the Clay County Communities Revitalization Association (CCCRA) recently made a $5,000 contribution to the county as part of a joint effort at improving the efficiency and environmental friendliness of the county’s waste handling practices.
Rob Tiger, CCCRA president, said the action was intended to help the county fund efforts to reduce the amount of trash that is being hauled away that is costing all of us as taxpayers.
“In discussions with the county commissioners, they have expressed an interest in doing something about this, but we recognize that they just don’t have the money to fund it,” he said. “The contribution was seed money to see if they can’t get something started.”
County manager Paul Leek the county would administer the funds using them for such things as signage, educational pamphlets and recycling containers. He said they have already purchased several 30-gallon clear containers for use at school sporting events and events on the town square as recycling containers.
For several years, the county was involved in recycling with collection bins for different types of materials, which were gathered and then sold. However, prices fell for most of the recycled materials making it a costly operation. So the practice was eventually discontinued.
Tiger said he recognizes that recycling may not be a money making process; however, if the county can cut down on the amount of plastics, metals and cardboard that goes into the large hauling trucks, then it could be a cost savings to the county.
“Sometimes, they haul out five or six loads a week of trash from the county’s transfer station at $800 plus per load,” he said. “If we could cut that by a load or two a week, it would add up to a lot of savings. Even if the recycled materials aren’t sold at a profit.”
He said he thought the materials to be recycled initially would be plastic milk jugs, drink bottles and aluminum drink cans. He said Steve Kaagan, an active member of the CCCRA and a believer in recycling had done much on his own to find out how public awareness could be raised on this issue and people could be shown how a workable recycling effort would benefit the county. This county government and CCCRA collaboration is first of its type in Clay County.