Reduce, reuse and recycle
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Fact Box
Going green
The Blair County Yard Waste Compost Recycling Facility will start accepting household plastics Saturday at its location in Ashville. Items with Nos. 1 through 7 will be accepted at the drop-off location only.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday until Nov. 24, when winter hours go into effect. They are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The facility also is closed on county holidays.
Directions: Take Route 36 north toward Ashville, turn right on Skyline Drive, then make a quick left onto Black Snake Road. The facility is about a quarter mile from the intersection.
What to bring
1) Plastic bottles and jugs (lids and caps must be removed)
2) Plastic buckets (rinsed), playground equipment, 55 gallon drums/barrels (rinsed)
3) Vinyl siding (nails removed, no insulation), vinyl fence, vinyl decking
4) Dry-cleaning bags, six-pack rings, clear shopping bags, clear stretch wrap
5) Plastic flower pots and trays and souvenir cups (rinsed)
6) Individual compact disc cases
7) Three- and five-gallon water jugs, Plexiglass, DVDs and CDs
By the numbers
In 2007, the amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum and steel cans, plastic and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging was equivalent to:
n The amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in one year
n 29 percent of nuclear electricity generation in the U.S. in one year
n 7.9 percent of electricity generation from fossil fuels in the U.S. in one year
n 11 percent of the energy produced by coal-fired power plants in the U.S.
n The energy supplied from 2.7 percent of imported barrels of crude oil into the U.S.
n The amount of gasoline used in almost 11 million passenger automobiles in one year.
Source: National Recycling Coalition
The plastic stuff cluttering your patio - old toys, flower pots and buckets - will go on to clutter a landfill if
you haul it to the curb on trash day.
But on America Recycles Day, which is observed Saturday, the Blair County Department of Solid Waste and Recycling will debut an expanded plastics recycling program.
Plastics numbered 1 through 7 will be accepted, including laundry baskets, swings, sandboxes, coolers and pool covers. There is no charge.
"We're trying to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills," said Beth Smithmyer, information specialist for the Depart-ment of Solid Waste and Re-cycling.
The number is typically found on the bottom of the plastic item, inside a recycling triangle. These items will be accepted only at the facility and not in curbside bins or any other drop-off locations, Smithmyer said.
Items can be dropped off at the compost and recycling facility, off Black Snake Road, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday or during facility hours.
All items should be relatively clean and free of contaminants.
Concord Plastics of PA in Altoona will collect the items at the facility. President Jeff Fur-manchin said the parternship has been under way for some time.
''It's not so much a profitability issue for us,'' Furmanchin said. ''This is really our piece, from a community standpoint, to help the county and the local community with recycling options. We're not set up to have individuals bring items directly to our facility.''
Plastic recycling has typically been limited to Nos. 1 and 2, said John Frederick, executive director of Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania in Bellwood. Frederick said the expansion may lead to "the next big jump in material recovery."
"The technology to recover these materials has evolved," Frederick said, "and it might allow us to make some of these plastics part of routine curbside collections someday in the not-too-distant future."
Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.
