Column: Recycling isn’t uniform, but Wisconsin has the basics

By Amanda Haffele

People often wonder why recycling guidelines aren’t uniform across Wisconsin.

Travel costs, methods of travel, a community’s access and frequency to recycling, sorting equipment, storage capabilities of the recycling center, recycling markets that dictate what can be recycled and how it must be prepared all affect a community differently. However, one thing is uniform across the state of Wisconsin – the basics.

State statute tells us that no matter where in Wisconsin you live, a community must have access to recycle the following items: plastic bottles and jugs, steel cans, aluminum cans, paper, cardboard, and glass bottles and jars. Here in Portage County, you can add plastic tubs to the list. Plastic tubs include cottage cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and sour cream type of containers.

Residents that live in a four-unit building or less are considered single-family homes in Portage County (the Village of Plover says it’s three units or less) and are in charge of providing/contracting for their own recycling services if the landlord doesn’t already provide this service. Residents that live in a five-unit or larger building are considered multi-family dwellings and it’s the responsibility of the landlord to provide recycling services. To squash the rumors, there are no communities or recycling centers in Wisconsin or beyond its borders that sort recyclables out of the trash. Therefore, recyclables do need to be separated from your trash in order to get recycled.

Preparing your Recyclables

Here in Portage County, most residents are able to mix all their recyclables in one cart or bin, this is known as single-stream recycling. Municipalities, like the Town of Grant, require their residents to keep paper and cardboard separate from all other materials using two different containers, this is known as dual-stream recycling.

Let your recyclables mingle by keeping them loose. Plastic bags are not recyclable and should not be used. They cause problems at Material Recovery Facilities (recycling centers) and may keep your materials from getting recycled. Employees on the pre-sort line have to open plastic bags and shake out their contents, not everything falls out during a quick shake. This can be dangerous because one never knows what’s inside the bag until it’s been opened. Since black bags are most often used for trash, any that come in with the recycling are automatically tossed into the trash.

Collection

Route trucks have morphed into safer and more efficient vehicles over the years. In the City of Stevens Point, the primary source for collection is the city’s side loading trucks. The driver collects recyclables using a sidearm that grabs onto the cart and tips it into the truck. Split body trucks utilize the same method as the sidearm above, however, they can accommodate both trash and recycling in the same truck. This is accomplished by a rotation of a steel plate on the inside of the truck. The operator pushes a button or pulls a lever on the inside of the cab that moves the plate from one side to the other keeping the trash separate from the recycling. Many smaller municipalities are usually collected using split body trucks i.e., Town of Amherst or Town of Hull.

Portage County Solid Waste

The Portage County Solid Waste Transfer Facility and Material Recovery Facility receive the materials collected in most of the County. We process the trash by loading it into semi’s that haul it to the landfill in Wisconsin Rapids. We are currently transferring most of the County’s recyclables to Johns Disposal’s Material Recovery Facility in Whitewater while we remove old equipment and upgrade to new equipment. This upgrade may take up to two years to complete. Once the change is complete, recycling in Portage County will become more efficient with a cleaner and more salable product!

Wouldn’t landfilling be the best option?

Don’t be fooled. The cost of landfilling has a greater cost economically and environmentally. Recycling decreases the need for landfill space and recycled materials reduce the need for virgin ones. Therefore, destructive mining, gas extraction, and deforestation (saving energy and decreasing our carbon footprint in the process) are reduced as well. Lastly, recycling creates six times more jobs than throwing something into a landfill.

For more information on what is and isn’t recyclable or for upcoming hazardous waste events visit our website at co.portage.wi.us/department/solid-waste or join our Facebook Community at facebook.com/PortageCountyRecycles. You can always call us at (715) 343-6297, we’d love to hear from you.

Haffele is the Portage Co. solid waste director. She can be reached at 715-343-6297.