Holiday recycling reminders from solid waste district

One of the merriest times of the year can turn into one of the messiest at the recycling sites in Highland County.

Boxes from online orders, gift packaging, used wrapping paper and gift bags, additional bottles, jars and cans from holiday meals, can cause recycling bins to end up overflowing.

The public is reminded that the recycling bins are a “present” from the Highland County Commissioners, the Ross-Pickaway-Highland-Fayette Solid Waste District, and the Highland County Recycling and Litter Prevention Office.

Be reminded that placing items on the ground by the bins, even recyclables, is considered littering and is illegal. It is also illegal to place items in and around the bins that are not listed on the bins as recyclable.

Problems at the bins can be avoided if the public will make a few adjustments during this period of heavy use:

• If you have room at home, consider holding your recyclables for a week or two after the holidays.

• If the bins you usually use are full when you arrive, choose another site from the list that follows.

• Break down all boxes. Flattened boxes take up minimal space in the bins.

• If it is not listed on the bin, then don’t put it in.

The following items can be placed in any of the county-sponsored recycling bins: plastic bottles and jugs with bases larger than openings, glass bottles and jars, aluminum cans, steel cans and lids, office paper and envelopes, junk mail, newspapers and inserts, magazines, telephone books, catalogs, and flattened paperboard and cardboard boxes.

There is no need to separate these items. Rumpke collects all of the recyclables from the bins and sorts them at their facilities. However, no plastic bags should ever be placed in the bins. Empty the recyclables from your trash bags or grocery bags into the bins then take your bags home and re-use them.

The following are the current bin locations in Highland County: in Lynchburg, on Main Street near Bobbitt Street; near Dodsonville at Terry’s Grocery/Marathon Station at 1505 U.S. Route 50; in Greenfield, at the Sunoco at 950 N. Washington St.; in Hillsboro, at the Sunoco at 489 E. Main St., at the old CM Recycling building at 131 Catherine St., at the Hi-Tec Center (by the BMV) at 1575 N. High St., and at the Hillsboro Board of Education Office, 39 Willettsville Pk. near the corner of U.S. 50 and SR 124; in Leesburg, at Premier Grain at 116 S. Fairfield St.; in Marshall, at the Mini Mart/Marathon Station at 11070 SR 506 at SR 124; in Mowrystown, at the Old Feed Mill at 106 W. Main St.; in New Market, at the Food Mart/Gas Station at 5828 W. New Market Rd. at U.S. 62; in Paint Township and the Rocky Fork Lake Region, at the Paint Township buildings at 12470 U.S. 50.

For more information, contact Heidi Devine, Highland County Recycling Outreach Specialist, at 1-937-509-2899 or at [email protected].

For general information on recycling, go to www.rphfsolidwastedistrict.com or www.rumpke.com/recycling. You may also follow the district on Facebook by searching, “RPHF Solid Waste District.”

Submitted by Heidi Devine, Highland County Recycling Outreach Specialist.

Submitted story