Yes, We Take That!

We get a lot of questions at the Recycle Depot about the things we can accept for disposal. We love questions, and here are a few that we get at least weekly—if not daily!

“Do you take plastic bags or Styrofoam?” Yes and yes. Plastic bags should NEVER go in your recycle bin. They are recyclable, though--just bring them to us or take them to a participating grocery store with a bin for returned bags. We can also take rigid Styrofoam (nothing that’s flexible, please). Think: that hard white foam that surrounds your new TV in its box.

“Do you take glass?” We now accept glass separately from our plastic and metal—any type or color of bottle or jar. Our glass is recycled to be used as fiberglass insulation.

“Do you take TVS?” Yes, we do take TVS. Old TVS, new TVS, flat screens and fat screens, analog and digital, pristine and dusty, working and non-working. We take electronic devices and their peripherals because electronic waste (also known as e-waste) contains hazardous materials that are illegal to throw in a landfill. E-waste also contains materials like gold, silver, nickel, cadmium, aluminum and other rare earth materials that can and should be recycled. We ship our e-waste to a company in Plainfield, Indiana with a huge warehouse filled with e-waste ready to be crushed, separated by material, and sold to other companies that will use it in their manufacturing processes. Currently it’s free to drop off most electronics at the Recycle Depot, but you must be a county resident.

“Do you take tires?” Yes, we collect tires for Liberty Tire out of New Liberty, Indiana. Liberty grinds them and sells the shreds for many different applications, including playground surfacing and asphalt. Tires are not welcome in landfills, where they work themselves to the top of the pile (tires and mattresses both are hard to compact in landfills because they “float”). Tires are also toxic when burned and pose health hazards when left outside. Mosquitos lay their eggs in old, waterlogged tires, a real problem during the summer when West Nile virus is present. The Depot charges $2 for passenger tires, an additional $3 if they are on the rim. Please call if you want to drop off larger tires. We prefer not to get more than twenty tires at a time. If we wanted to fling that many tires, we’d join a Crossfit gym.

“Do you take batteries?” Yes, all batteries should come to the Depot. We work with a nonprofit called Call2recycle. They accept all our batteries for free! Before we box them up, though, we must tape or bag EACH BATTERY to prevent fires in transit. Before you bring batteries to us, sort them by type—that saves us a step and a lot of time. Bring them sorted in a cardboard box—something we can recycle— and don’t throw your light bulbs in with your batteries. Please and thank you.

“Do you take gas?” If you have leftover gas, we can take it for free – but only in a container specifically for gasoline. We can’t take it in a milk jug, or a kitty litter box, or a Ziploc bag, or an old boot or anything that isn’t labeled specifically for gas. It’s a Department of Transportation thing.

“Do you take sharps?” Like gasoline, we can take sharps, but only in containers meant to contain sharps or a container of a similar thickness. Medical sharps containers are the best, but don’t throw anything else in there besides sharps. (We once received a sharps container with batteries, razors, and needles mixed. Ugh.) A coffee can or detergent bottle with a duct-taped lid are acceptable. Milk jugs or Ziplocs are just not sturdy enough. When you throw things away, think about the people who will be handling your waste and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is the Golden Rule of Garbage.

Do you have questions about other things we can accept for disposal at the Depot? Call us anytime at 935-8618 or check out our website at www.myrecycledepot. org.