Waste Management still seeing high levels of contaminated recycling
TEXARKANA, Texas — Local Waste Managment representatives said the company is still seeing a high level of inappropriate materials making it into the recycling facility.
“Our contamination here was around 25% (last year). We’re down to 15-16%,” Waste Management Public Sector Solutions Manager Doug Sims said. “Our goal is to have 10% contamination at the curb.”
WM accepts rinsed out plastic bottles and containers, food and beverage cans, paper, and flattened cardboard and paper board.
“There’s a misconception that 90% of what we receive is going to go to the landfill,” Sims said. “Actually, it’s going to be 90% that won’t go into the landfill because there’s only that 10% to 15% contamination level.”
When incorrect materials make their way into a recycling container, it risks contaminating the whole truckload’s worth of recyclable materials. When the truckload is over 25% contaminated, the whole load (approximately 1.6 tons) has to go to the landfill. When the truckload is clean, it gets sent to the Materials Recovery Facility to be turned into new materials for manufacturers.
Incorrect materials can prove to be detrimental to the single stream process, but they can also be dangerous for the WM workers.
“We had a truck catch on fire one time because someone put a bottle of acetone in there and it was in the summer and it was hot,” Senior Manager of Public Affairs Greta Calvery said. “It combusted with something else that was in the back of the truck.”
The most common contaminants for WM are plastic bags and reusable goods.
“Plastic bags have a natural static electricity, which makes things cling to it,” Calvery said. “So any dirt, any food, anything will stick to it and contaminate so much of the load.”
WM District Manager Jarrod Miller emphasized the difference between recyclable and reusable.
“In Texarkana, we pick up yard waste separately. That’s compost,” Miller said. “People put clothing in also because it can be reused, but it is not recyclable.”
WM recycling containers have decals indicating what not to place in the container: foods or liquids, foam cups or containers, plastic bags, yard waste, clothing, furniture, carpets, batteries, or glass.
For information about recycling in Texarkana, click here or log onto https:// www.wm.com/us/local/tx/texarkana/residential .