 Boone resident Gabe Lopez takes advantage of the new Horn in the West recycling drop-off center Wednesday morning. Photo by Tommy Penick
|
by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
News Editor
The Boone Recycling Committee has opened a new recycling center at the lower parking lot of Horn in the West Drive, providing in-town residents with a closer recycling option.
The recycling center was first suggested partly because of the new plastic bottle ban in landfills, which took place Oct. 1.
Boone Recycling Coordinator Marsha Story said many landlords do not provide plastic bottle recycling, and the new center will provide easy-access plastic bottle recycling.
The center will run as a pilot program and after two months will be evaluated based on how often its been used.
“After
December, we’ll collect feedback and keep up with the tonnage, which
will be the true indicator if it’s successful or not,” Boone Recycling
Coordinator Marsha Story said.
Story
said the center will specifically target multi-family apartment
complexes. In town, 125 such complexes exist, but only 35 have on-site
recycling for tenants.
 Photo by Tommy Penick
|
“We want to give more control to the town for more convenience for multi-family complexes,” Story said.
Coordinator
for Off-Campus Community Relations Kendal B. McDevitt also works on the
recycling committee and said students have requested a recycling center
for some time.
“Surveys
were conducted by [the Student Government Association], and it [showed
students] overwhelmingly wanted to recycle plastic, but did not have
the place to do it,” she said.
In
addition to the new recycling center, McDevitt said the recycling
committee has worked with landlords to provide more on-site recycling.
GDS, the recycling center near Bamboo Road, is working to provide more plastic recycling.
“GDS,
who handles curbside recycling, does not pick up plastic because those
bins fill so quickly, they don’t have room in their trucks,” McDevitt
said.
GDS is
working with Boone Town Council member Stephen Phillips to put plastic
recycling on-site and monitor how quickly they fill.
“We need
to do something more as a community to get plastic bottles recycled,”
McDevitt said. “It’s bad for the environment and now it’s illegal.”
Photos by Tommy Penick | The Appalachian
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments