bkleppinger@amnews.com11:09 a.m. EST, November 24, 2010
STANFORD — Recycling is about to get a lot more convenient for many residents in Lincoln and Garrard counties.By Tuesday, Lincoln-Garrard Solid Waste expects to have six new drop-off points for recycables throughout the two counties, creating much shorter commutes for some residents who recycle.
Solid Waste Coordinator Chris Thomason said four of the new drop-offs will be in Lincoln and two will be in Garrard to complement two stations already located in that county.
Two of Lincoln’s drop-offs — at Crab Orchard city hall and next to Walmart in Stanford — already are available. Two more will be at Hustonville city hall and Waynesburg Area Rescue Squad.
Garrard’s new drop-offs will be at the Garrard County Convenience Center near the Boyle County line and at Camp Dick Fire Station No. 3 in the north end of the county.
Thomason hopes the drop-off at the convenience center will prove successful because for many Garrard residents, the convenience center is their only legal way to dispose of their trash.
“It’s our hope that since they’re already bringing their garbage there that they might separate out their recycling,” Thomason said. “That will save them money because it costs $1 a bag to dispose of their household trash. Somebody could save several dollars each time they come here.”
Thomason said it also could save the counties money because the more people recycle, the less trash the counties have to pay for to dispose of in the landfill.
The new drop-offs are only one new addition to recycling capabilities. The solid waste program recently has received several major upgrades, thanks to a $169,167 grant from the state Division of Solid Waste.
The program received a $68,000 baler that substantially speeds up how fast recycling materials can be processed and a $12,000 conveyor belt that speeds up sorting paper, Thomason said.
“This machine (conveyor belt) replaces a wooden table, so it’s quite an upgrade for us,” he said. “With this new baler, we can bale our plastic and aluminum and steel cans in about a fourth of the time.”
The grant also provided a steel container at the Garrard County Convenience Center to hold electronics, and recycling bins on the Lancaster Public Square and at Logan-Hubble Memorial Park.
The grant, which was awarded in June, was the third of its kind in as many years that Thomason has applied for and received. Thomason, who headed up Garrard’s Solid Waste Department before the counties merged efforts, received a $50,000 grant from the Kentucky Pride Fund in 2009 and a $10,000 one in 2008.
In July, he credited the merging of the two counties’ solid waste efforts as the main reason he was able to pull down more than three times as much as his previous grant.
For Thomason, recycling is about a lot more than shrinking the amount of waste going to landfills.
“Recycling is about energy independence, recycling is about conservation and it’s about jobs,” he said. “The recycling industry is a huge industry in this country. It provides jobs at paper mills and plastic manufacturing plants all across the country. I think a lot of people don’t realize that when they recycle, they’re not just keeping it out of the landfill, but they’re providing somebody a job.”
Garrard’s new drop-offs will be at the Garrard County Convenience Center near the Boyle County line and at Camp Dick Fire Station No. 3 in the north end of the county.
Thomason hopes the drop-off at the convenience center will prove successful because for many Garrard residents, the convenience center is their only legal way to dispose of their trash.
“It’s our hope that since they’re already bringing their garbage there that they might separate out their recycling,” Thomason said. “That will save them money because it costs $1 a bag to dispose of their household trash. Somebody could save several dollars each time they come here.”
Thomason said it also could save the counties money because the more people recycle, the less trash the counties have to pay for to dispose of in the landfill.
The new drop-offs are only one new addition to recycling capabilities. The solid waste program recently has received several major upgrades, thanks to a $169,167 grant from the state Division of Solid Waste.
The program received a $68,000 baler that substantially speeds up how fast recycling materials can be processed and a $12,000 conveyor belt that speeds up sorting paper, Thomason said.
“This machine (conveyor belt) replaces a wooden table, so it’s quite an upgrade for us,” he said. “With this new baler, we can bale our plastic and aluminum and steel cans in about a fourth of the time.”
The grant also provided a steel container at the Garrard County Convenience Center to hold electronics, and recycling bins on the Lancaster Public Square and at Logan-Hubble Memorial Park.
The grant, which was awarded in June, was the third of its kind in as many years that Thomason has applied for and received. Thomason, who headed up Garrard’s Solid Waste Department before the counties merged efforts, received a $50,000 grant from the Kentucky Pride Fund in 2009 and a $10,000 one in 2008.
In July, he credited the merging of the two counties’ solid waste efforts as the main reason he was able to pull down more than three times as much as his previous grant.
For Thomason, recycling is about a lot more than shrinking the amount of waste going to landfills.
“Recycling is about energy independence, recycling is about conservation and it’s about jobs,” he said. “The recycling industry is a huge industry in this country. It provides jobs at paper mills and plastic manufacturing plants all across the country. I think a lot of people don’t realize that when they recycle, they’re not just keeping it out of the landfill, but they’re providing somebody a job.”
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