As temperatures begin to warm as February turns into March, that could also increase interest in sustainability measures. Angela Poe is senior program manager in Lexington’s Division of Environmental Quality and Public Works. Poe said an emphasis on re-do and re-use is important as well as recycling. She noted a major culprit at the recycling center this time of year is winding rubber-like materials.
“Hoses are particularly hard on the equipment here. We’ve got a lot of moving parts that turn and they get wrapped all in the equipment and we have to shut everything down and go in and cut them out. And so, hoses are not recyclable,” said Poe.
There are always going to be dos and don’ts when it comes to recycling. Poe points to a priority recommendation when it comes to placing items in the Rosie container.
“The number one thing people can do to help us reduce contamination is do not put your recycling in bags when you put it in your recycling cart. Because, if the material is in a bag when it gets here, it is automatically removed because we can’t see if its trash or if it’s real recycling,” said Poe.
Poe noted about 30% of the material which comes to the Lexington Recycling Center has to be sent on to the landfill.
Two special community-wide environmental events to consider are household hazardous waste collection on March 25th and a paper-shred opportunity on May 20th.
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