Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
The City of Sidney has recycling bins at Safeway and at Legion Park. Residents are encouraged to place the proper material in the respective receptacle to prevent contaminating the bin. Contaminated loads cannot be recycled.
The pepperoni pizza arrives with a two-liter bottle of a carbonated beverage. In the cooler is an assortment of other beverages in bottles and cans.
When the meal is done, the remaining question is what to do with the cardboard container and the glass, plastic and aluminum. The answer is much more complex than the heart might wish, according to Sidney City Manager Ed Sadler.
If the pizza box, for example, is put in a recycle bin but it is stained with grease and cheese that stuck to the lid, it could contaminate the entire load, making it unacceptable at a recycling site.
Sidney does have a limited recycling program. There are receptacles in downtown alleys, at Legion Park and at Safeway marked specifically for flattened cardboard. Trash and other recyclables must be separated. The problem is if the load of cardboard is contaminated with food waste, other types of paper, or trash, the entire load is discarded at the landfill. Sadler said it is not cost-affective to break open a bundle of cardboard and remove grease and other food products from the cardboard, or other products that cannot be in the cardboard recycle bin.
The City collects plastics, glass, aluminum, paper and cardboard. The problem is what to do with it once it is collected. There are fewer and fewer collection sites.
"For whatever reason, Chicago became the hub," Sadler said.
Additionally, China is not accepting recyclable materials, especially from the U.S., he said.
Done properly, glass and plastics would be rinsed before put in a recycle bin. All food and foreign matter would be removed.
However, that still doesn't answer the rest of the question: where to take collected material in a cost-efficient process.
"It is hard for small towns," Sadler said.
He said when he has to pay to have it collected, then shipped, only to wonder if the material is being recycled and reused or just moved somewhere else, it causes doubt if the program is worth the effort. He said the landfill currently has bundles of cardboard with no where to go.
In Sidney, the following items are accepted for recycling:
Newspaper
Junk Mail - remove all plastic bags
Corrugated cardboard
Aluminum cans
Steel cans
Food grade plastics numbers 1-7
Motor Oil - must be brought to the Landfill
All types of batteries - must be brought to the Landfill
No pesticide, herbicide or chemical bottles.
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