Recycling is just one of many personal actions we can do to “Think Globally and Act Locally” each year as we celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and America Recycles Day on November 15. See www.earthday.org and www.americarecyclesday.org for details about these days of recognition.
Locally, “Recycling “Shore” Matters!” is the motto of the Midshore’s regional recycling program. The program promotes these “4 Reasons 4 Recycling”:
1. Communal & Environmental Benefits, Near & Far
2. Encourages Sustainable Approaches
3. Creates Jobs, Saves & Earns Money, Conserves Energy & Resources
4. Lessens Load to Waste Stream
By recycling newspaper, magazines, catalogs, unwanted mail, paperboard cereal boxes and most other types of paper Midshore residents help support 30 local jobs in Kent County at Creafill Fibers Corp. near Worton. By annually recycling more than 1,600 tons of mixed paper the regional recycling program is on track to generate over $130,000 in revenue. Plus the community at large will avoid in excess of $90,000 in disposal fees if that paper had been disposed at the new regional landfill in Ridgely. The paper goes through value-added steps to produce cellulose based products used in road building, automotive, construction and other industries. Creafill prefers the clean local paper over paper from “single stream” programs that are often too contaminated to effectively use. This 15-year relationship between Creafill, Kent County, and the Midshore Regional Recycling Program started as an economic development project and has become a mutually beneficial relationship that represents a significant financial commitment by Creafill to provide 30 local jobs and to secure the local clean paper based on an industry standard price index.
“We actually recycle the acceptable recyclables which residents provide to us in the igloos. They are not put into the landfill or used as landfill cover,” said James Wood, manager of the Midshore Regional Recycling Program, which includes Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot counties.
Glass collected by the Midshore Counties and Infinity Recycling is purchased by a Pennsylvania company, CAP Glass, that provides glass cullet to glass bottle manufacturers. In order to make new bottles, it is important that the glass is free of contaminants such as ceramics, window glass, Pyrex, light bulbs, etc. Glass collected by private firms and in other counties may be sent to “single stream” recycling facilities where glass may then be used as “landfill cover”; check with the firm or jurisdiction’s policy.
On April 30th, Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot Counties and the Midshore Regional Recycling Program will hold a Household Hazardous Waste Collection (for safe disposal) and an Electronics Recycling (to recycle computers, etc.) event near Chestertown at the Nicholson Drop-Off Center from 8 to 2. Events are planned for each Spring and Fall near Earth Day and America Recycles Day. The next event is slated for Fall 2011 in Caroline County. Details are available at www.midshorerecycling.org.