Johnson County opened its second recycling site in Edinburgh with hopes to continue to improve recycling efforts and education across the county.
The Edinburgh Recycling Depot officially opened May 26 after the original opening in March was postponed to further prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The depot, which was created by a partnership between Edinburgh and the Johnson County Recycling District, is staffed by workers who will help residents sort their recyclables. This is similar to the operations at the Johnson County Recycling Service Center in Franklin that opened in September last year.
This new recycling depot arrives more than a year after the county closed all of its unmanned recycling sites due to residents continuously dumping trash or materials that could not be recycled, leaving a mess.
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"The old sites were too contaminated," said Jessie Biggerman, director of the Johnson County Recycling District.
To solve the contamination problem, centers are now staffed with one or two people to help residents with their recyclables.
In Edinburgh, the town provides the staff at the site, and then the recycling district covers the cost of the fees for replacing bins when they fill up. That cost is expected to be less than $1,000 a month, Biggerman said.
Having these staffed sites with employees telling people what they can and can’t recycle created a bit of a learning curve for county residents at first, Biggerman said.
"We’ll have people come through the first time, they’ll go home with 75 percent of their stuff," Biggerman said. "They come in the next time, they go home with 35 percent of the stuff. By the time they’ve been around the third time, they get it done."
Recycling in Johnson County also looks different now as the nation continues to go through the coronavirus pandemic. People dropping off recyclables must stay in their vehicles and have all the drop-off items sitting loosely in the trunk. Staff members will open the trunk, and remove the recyclable items. Items should not be in any bags, as the staff will not touch closed bags.
Both recycling centers still accept the same items, which are limited to paper, cardboard, glass and plastics. However, not every general item that fits into these categories can be recycled, Biggerman said.
The recycling district is going "back to basics," she said. For example, the only plastics accepted are bottles and jugs, and the only glass items that can be recycled are bottles and jars.
That is why education is important at the staffed sites, Biggerman said. If someone brings an item that can’t be recycled at the site, the staff will inform them of other ways it can be disposed.
"The reason why we changed and we’re doing things the way we do, is because we want to ensure 100 percent of our material is being recycled," Biggerman said.
The county recycling district outlines these specific items on their website and social media. But the recycling site still sees repeat items that cannot be recycled at the site, such as plastic cups and thin plastic vegetable containers, Biggerman said.
With that, the recurring challenge is always going to be educating people how to recycle, she said.
"The people who maybe recycled because they felt it was the right thing to do, but they didn’t take the time to educate themselves … the challenge is convincing them that what we’re doing is worthwhile," Biggerman said.
But even with residents taking more time to learn proper recycling methods, the challenges of contamination from the unmanned sites are in the past, and residents are learning quickly, Biggerman said.
"They’re thrilled that they’re able to recycle again," she said. "Once people visit the site and understand, the challenge is over."
The new Edinburgh Recycling Depot is open two days a week, Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with service also offered on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
The site hasn’t been too busy since it opened in May, but that is possibly due to people still not knowing it is there, Biggerman said.
"It’s been fairly slow, but that’s more because the word is still trickling out. People are very excited that it’s there though," she said.
The difference at the Edinburgh location is that they will not accept glass or large cardboard pieces. Those items can be taken to the recycling service center in Franklin, which is open Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Both centers are free to the public.
As of right now, there are not plans for additional sites in the county. The recycling district’s yearly budget of $540,000 is stretched as far as it can go, Biggerman said.
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Johnson County Recycling Service Center
Where: 900 Arvin Road, Franklin
What you can bring:
- Flattened cardboard
- Clean plastic bottles and jugs
- Mixed paper, newspapers, magazines, paperboard boxes
- Clean metal food and beverage cans
- Glass bottles and jars
What you can’t bring:
- Plastic bags or cups
- Electronics
- Wet or dirty cardboard or cans/bottles
Edinburgh Recycling Depot
Where: 610 Mary Drybread Court, Edinburgh
What you can bring:
- Small amounts of cardboard
- Mixed paper, newspapers, magazines, paperboard boxes
- Clean metal food and beverage cans
What you can’t bring:
- Any glass items
- Large pieces of cardboard
- Plastic bags or cups
- Electronics
- Wet or dirty cardboard or cans/bottles
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The Edinburgh Recycling Depot is now open for business at 610 Mary Drybread Court, Edinburgh.
Hours
Tuesdays: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Fridays: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
1st and 3rd Saturdays of month: 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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