Recycling increases in Warrenton
Area schools, local trash collector offer recycling options
Since the beginning of the summer, Keith Wilson, owner of J. Hunt Hauling, said close to 1,000 single-family households in Warrenton have begun recycling, for a total of 55 percent.
In Wright City, 10 percent of residents recycle. Eight percent of Truesdale residents recycle, he said.The reason Warrenton's rate is higher is because the company sent fliers earlier this summer to Warrenton residents letting them know they have the option to recycle, he said.
"A lot of people just didn't know the services are available to them," Wilson said.
Fliers will be sent to Truesdale and Wright City in the coming weeks, he said.
While the service isn't free, city residents receive the service included in their trash pickup fees, Wilson said. They just need a recycling bin, which they can get by calling J. Hunt Hauling at 636-456-1836.
If a resident isn't under a city contract, Wilson said adding the recycling service would increase their trash pickup bill by $3 to $4.
Currently, residents who live in unincorporated areas don't have the service.
"The cost factor is so high, I don't have a way of doing it right now," Wilson said, citing high fuel costs.
He added that the company is looking into ways to change this by possibly doing a monthly pickup or a similar variant.
County residents have a second recycling option offered through their local schools.
Warrenton High School, Daniel Boone Elementary School, Black Hawk Middle School and Holy Rosary Catholic School all have community recycling bins behind their schools.
The schools accept most paper products at the bins, excluding corrugated cardboard that most boxes are made of, said Daniel Boone speech teacher Lynn Sansome.
Parents and businesses also can drop off computer ink cartridges to recycle at Daniel Boone and Holy Rosary.
"Recycling cannot just be educational, it can be a financing option," Sansome said, adding that ink cartridges bring in the most money.
At Daniel Boone, ink cartridges can be dropped off in a box located inside the Vosholl Street entrance.
According to Warren County district officials, Black Hawk Middle School students collected $60 to $70 in July from recycling.
The proceeds, received about once every three months, go toward students' class trips.
Holy Rosary generates between $80 and $100 a month from paper recycling, according to principal Mike Etter.
"It's been pretty steady," he said, about the amount the school recycles. "We're thankful for what we get - more is always good."
He asked that parents use the northwest entrance to the school if they drop items during the day so they're not driving through the parking lot where children might be playing during recess.
None of the schools accepts aluminium cans. "We're trying to get away from soda drinking," Sansome said. She added that she was looking into recycling plastic bottles in the future.
The Wright City School District doesn't have a district-wide recycling program the community may participate in, but residents may contribute to recycling by dropping off regular paper and newspaper products - excluding slick advertising paper - at a recycling bin located by the gymnasium entrance at Wright City High School, said Jill Smoot, executive assistant to the superintendent.
Items accepted in the schools' paper bins include flat or slim cardboard, newspaper, magazines, hard and paperback books, computer paper, brown bags, gift wrap and bags, spiral-bound notebooks, envelopes, construction paper and shredded paper.
Facts and benefits of recycling
? In 2006, Americans generated about 251 million tons of trash and recycled 82 million tons of materials, which is 32.5 percent.
? In 2006, Americans recycled 1.5 pounds of their individual waste generation rate of 4.6 pounds per person per day.
? Every ton of mixed paper recycled can save the energy equivalent of 185 gallons of gas.
? Recycling just 1 ton of aluminum cans rather than throwing them away conserves more than 207 million BTUs, the equivalent of 36 barrels of oil or 1,655 gallons of gasoline.
? The United States recycled 82 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2006. This provides an annual benefit of 49.7 million metric tons of carbon equivalent emissions reduced, comparable to removing 39.4 million passenger cars from the road each year.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency, Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2006
