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Unwelcome items left at recycling site

Submitted photo This license plate should not be here.

SALEM — The company that empties the recycling dumpsters behind the police department here found something unusual when they arrived on Monday: Plastic automobile parts filling up four of the 22 containers.

When recycling coordinator Tony Guidone showed up on Tuesday he found another of the 40-yard dumpster filled with more of the same.

“There were bumpers and plastic wheel (covers) and such,” he said.

Although the items may be plastic, it is not the type of plastic accepted by the Solid Waste District (SWD), the government agency that operates and maintains recycling drop-off sites in Columbiana, Carroll and Harrison counties.

“Is it recyclable? I suppose someone could, but we don’t accept it,” Guidone said of the automobile plastic items.

If in doubt, he recommended going to the SWD website at www.cchenvironmental.org or call them at 330-672-7311. There are also large signs affixed to each container explaining what is and is not acceptable.

The SWD’s program consists of 312 dumpsters at 77 sites in the three counties where residents can drop off recyclable materials, with 44 of those sites in Columbiana County. The recycling collection program accepts most common household plastics, cardboard, glass and cans.

Disposing of other items such as automobile plastic drives up operating costs. The items had to be hauled back to Carrollton and disposed of in a SWD trash dumpster used for incompatible recycling items found at drop-off sites. When the questionable items are thrown in the dumpsters, workers at the recycling plant have to remove the non-recyclable materials by hand, which slows the recycling process, driving up costs for the company the SWD contracts with.

“We see it all the time,” Guidone said, noting among the most common unacceptable items left at the drop-off sites are plastic children toys, high chairs and car seats. Another popular non-recyclable item is styrofoam.

Then are those who drop off items that are clearly not recyclable, like couches, chairs and mattresses. “We even found a dead goat in the one in Elkton last summer,” he said.

Guidone said the Salem site is the worst, but it is also the largest in the county, with 22 dumpsters, and the most used. He said they haul away two truckloads of non-recyclable items from Salem per week. For example, also hauled away from Salem besides the automobile items were a hot tub, vinyl fencing, two plastic 55-gallon drums and plastic lawn furniture, none of which is recyclable.

As for the automobile items, Guidone said they filed a report with Salem police, who have something to go on since two of the bumpers still had a license plate. The security camera at the site was down for repairs at the time, so there is no video, but Guidone said the cameras are back in service.

tgiambroni@mojonews.com

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