No More Plastics in the Trash!

Just a heads up, I am skipping my usual attempts at eloquence and am getting straight to the point: We no longer have to throw those “other” recyclable plastics away or haul them to another county. 

(You know, the ones not marked 1 or 2, but rather 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.) 

These can now be dropped off at the at 2295 Bolivar Road SW in Canton, Monday thru Friday between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. — free of charge! (It is called a transfer facility because the recyclables are transferred from there to a recycles reclaimer, where the actual recycling takes place.)

This facility is located about 15 minutes south of North Canton. To get there, you can travel south on 77 to the Cleveland Road exit (103). As you exit, veer left on to Timken Place and then take the very next left onto Bolivar SW. Proceed about one block and it will be on your right. You will pull up to an intercom as you approach their building and be given further instructions from there. (Someone will direct you to pull up, park and place your container just inside the first door, which is among several large garage doors. You will want to use a box or something that you can just leave.)

When you leave, you can access 77 North by proceeding past Timken Place on Bolivar. (In other words, you don’t retrace your journey exactly but go north a block before turning right to get back on 77. There are signs on Bolivar but not until you cross Timken Place as you travel north.)

Yes, I know what you are thinking — why can’t we just put them with the plastics 1 and 2 and have them picked up at the curb? And, wouldn’t it just be easier to throw them away. 

North Canton does not currently have curbside pickup for the “other” plastics because doing so would be significantly more costly.  (There is a greater demand for 1 and 2, which means the profits made from recycling them can off-set some of the cost of collecting, sorting, baling, transferring, etc... The demand for the “others” is much lower and requires greater recycling fees to partially pay for collecting, sorting, baling, etc….  When you drop them off at the facility the price of collecting is avoided.)

Throwing these “other” plastics away is easy but bad. They will end up in a landfill, near North Canton by the way, where over time the chemicals within them will decompose and leach into our environment, via water for example.

(Pure plastic is not toxic; however, the chemicals that make plastics pliable are. Most recyclable plastics have chemicals in them which are either proven or suspected carcinogens and/or are suspected or known to cause serious health problems, such as birth defects. Although a number of scientists theorize that many plastics will take hundreds of years to degrade, others are now proposing that it is quite possible that much less time is required. Also, there are those that feel that some of the harmful chemicals in plastic decompose much quicker and are released from the plastic within a fairly short period of time. Scientists have uncertainties because, although plastic is not new to our environment, the chemicals used to make them pliable have been around a relatively short time.)

Before buying plastic, please look for the recycling symbol and avoid those without one. Instead of numbers, you may see words like PET; put these in your curbside pickup bin. Most of these are made from recycled 1 and 2 plastics. Remember that tubes, such as those containing lotion, can also be recycled if they have a code. If you see the symbol but no number, put it with the “others.”

And, I can’t conclude without this plug — when possible avoid plastics altogether, particularly 3, 6 and 7 because they have the potential of releasing harmful chemicals even while still in your home.

Please remember: Feel good about recycling and saying adios to that favorite product in a non-recyclable container. Together we can be the “hero” that our earth needs!

If you need assistance getting your recyclables to J & J Refuse, please don’t hesitate to contact me at mrscobb@neo.rr.com.