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As part of a special presentation on May 18, 2010 to the Harford County Council, Harford County Executive David R. Craig along with Robert B. Cooper, Director of Public Works, and Tom Hilton, Deputy Director of the Division of Environmental Services, announced Harford County has contracted with WM Recycle America to move forward with a new and improved recycling program for Harford County that will begin the week of September 12, 2010.
“Harford County’s partnership with WM Recycle America will not only meet the County’s global goals of conserving resources and energy, but will also result in a savings of over $400,000 per year to the County’s operating budget” County Executive Craig stated. “In addition to these green initiatives, the Single Stream Recycling Program will be much more convenient for the County residents and will allow additional items to be recycled, thereby encouraging more participation and reducing how much waste is placed in our landfill.” This program is part of Craig’s Environmental Stewardship initiative, “Protect and preserve the County's environment through efficient use and reuse of its resources.”
Harford County has adopted the slogan of All Together Now! to advertise the new Single Stream Recycling Program. Single Stream recycling will allow residents to put paper and cardboard; with bottles and cans in the same container. Additional items which the Single Stream program will accept include: books, narrow-neck plastic containers; widemouth plastic containers; aluminum foil, aluminum foil and rigid plastic such as outdoor furniture, coolers, garbage cans, drinking cups, pails, 5-gallon buckets, flower pots, and plastic toys. As always, all material must first be lightly rinsed.
Prior to September 12th, the Harford County Recycling Office will be mailing out to all Harford County households detailed information on the Single Stream Recycling Program along with recycling stickers to place on their containers to designate them for recyclables. Residents can also place an “X” on the side of their container if they wish.
Mr. Hilton emphasized that one of the differences with the new Single Stream Program is that your recyclables will no longer be able to be placed within plastic bags. All material must be commingled loosely in a container. “Plastic bags create operational difficulties with the Single Stream processing equipment but residents are encouraged to recycle them by contacting one of the many grocery stores in Harford County which accept bags for recycling” said Hilton.
No longer will residents have to follow a recycling calendar. We have been told by the private trash collectors that whatever day of the week is their regularly scheduled recycling pick-up that will also be the day of the week for Single Stream recycling as well” said Tom Hilton.
Mr. Hilton finished the announcement by stating “For many years now Harford County has been the leader in the State with achieving the highest recycling rates. Despite this enormous success, we can still improve and become better stewards of the environment. Come September 12th, let’s show you care by putting your recyclables out …… All Together Now!”
For further information regarding the new Single Stream Program or where stickers are available contact the Harford County Recycling Office at 410-638-3417, Monday – Friday during normal business hours.
To view what happens to your recyclables after they are picked up, click below
Yes, the trash collectors are picking up the recycling as well as trash from their customers. Alternatively, County residents who do not subscribe to a curbside trash collection service can bring their recyclables, free of charge, to the Harford Waste Disposal Center located at 3241 Scarboro Road, in Street.
Single Stream recycling allows for the recycling of everything acceptable (glass, plastic, metal, aluminum and paper) to be set out all together in the same container and on the same day. It also increases the items that can be recycled at curbside, including all numbers of plastic containers (i.e. beverage and food, laundry soap, dish soap, peanut butter jars, margarine tubs, yogurt containers), rigid plastic items (lawn furniture, plastic coolers, drinking cups, 5-gallon buckets, flower pots, nursery pots, garbage cans, plastic toys), glass food and beverage bottles and jars and metal and aluminum cans, aluminum foil, aluminum disposable bake ware, empty aerosol cans, and milk and orange juice cartons.
Please contact your trash collector for the pick up day of your address. Most residents will continue with the same collection day as previously. The five main trash collectors in Harford County are:
- Alley Cat Trash Removal, 443-813-8877;
- Allied Waste, 1-800-284-7056;
- Waste Industries (HSS), 410-838-5472;
- Hooper Enterprise, 443-866-2349;
- Bartenfelder Sanitation Services, Inc., 410-420-9220
- Quality Waste Disposal, 410 452-7082
Providing recycling containers was not economically feasible due to the expense involved. However, to make recycling convenient for residents, there is considerable flexibility in how recycling can be set out for collection. Recyclables may be placed together and set out in a variety of containers such as spare trash cans, new trash cans, corrugated cardboard boxes, even laundry baskets. They could also be placed together in paper bags for collection. In any event, plastic bags may not be used or disposed with the recyclables. The bags tend to foul up the single stream recycling processing equipment.
As an alternative to recycling stickers, residents may mark an “X” on the side of their recycling container(s) or tie a blue plastic bag onto the handle of the container to designate it for recycling. If you wish to receive more recycling stickers, please call the Recycling Office at 410-638-3417 and one will be mailed to you.
Plastic bags create problems for the machinery used in the separation process so we are requiring residents not to place plastic bags in with curbside recyclables. Most grocery stores in Harford County accept plastic bags for recycling. Look for the bag container located at the front of the store. Please be sure there is nothing left in the plastic bags and that it is dry. We encourage everyone to begin using the re-usable grocery sacks also available from many sources.
All plastic containers with the number designations (1 through 7) on the bottom of the container including, narrow-necked and wide-mouthed, as well as rigid plastic such as toys, coolers, lawn furniture, drinking cups, garbage cans, laundry baskets, buckets, nursery pots, and flower pots.
Recycling is picked up at curbside by your trash collector and brought to the Harford County Recycling Transfer Station located at the Harford Waste Disposal Center where they are loaded onto tractor trailers and transported to a processing facility in York, Pennsylvania. Click on the video link to see the operation of an identical facility in Elkridge, Maryland. The segregated material is then sent to secondary market vendors who process the material into re-usable products. Plastic is used to manufacture new containers, carpeting, and fleece clothing. Paper is used to make newsprint. Cardboard is used to make new cardboard and other packaging material. Glass is used to make new glass containers and fiberglass insulation. Aluminum cans are used to make new aluminum cans. Tin cans are used to make new steel products.
You may set out as many recycling containers as needed; there is no limit to the amount of recycling you can set out. Large items such as cardboard and rigid plastic items can be placed next to the containers. Mark an “X” on any additional containers or tie a blue bag to the handle to identify them as recycling containers. See question No. 5 if you wish to obtain additional recycling stickers. Alternatively, you may print off a recycling sticker by clicking the icon at the top of this web page.
Single stream recycling may make it easier for apartment buildings and condominiums to participate in a recycling program. If you are a resident living within an apartment or a condominium which is currently not offering recycling to its residents, please contact your apartment owner or Condominium Homeowners Association to pursue recycling within your community. If after you have exhausted your efforts and still want to recycle, please contact our Recycling Program Manager, Bob Ernst at 410-638-3417. Mr. Ernst will contact the owners or HOA to help them with their waste disposal needs and determine the most cost effective way to reduce their trash disposal costs by participating in a recycling program.
Your trash collector is also picking up your recycling. Phone numbers of the major trash collectors in the County are: Alley Cat Trash Removal, 443-813-8877, Allied Waste, 1-800-284-7056, Waste Industries (HSS), 410-838-5472, and Hooper Enterprise 443-866-2349.
It depends on the material contained in the recyclable container. For food and beverage containers we do ask that they be completely empty and lightly rinsed.
No, labels can remain on jars and cans.
Landfill space is filling up. Why landfill when there are markets for the recyclable items? Recycling saves natural resources, energy and creates less pollution when items are remanufactured using recycled material rather than virgin material.
With the added convenience of single stream recycling and not having to sort paper from containers, the participation rate is expected to increase. For municipalities which have switched to a single stream recycling program, the national average indicates a 20% increase in material recycled.
The Harford Waste Disposal Center at Scarboro Landfill, 3241 Scarboro Rd., Street, MD 21154, accepts all recyclable materials free of charge, Monday through Saturday, 7am to 3pm. Also accepted for recycling at the Disposal Center are clothing and textiles, computers, scrap metal, motor oil and antifreeze, ink jet cartridges, used propane cylinders, and wet cell batteries.
Recycling is accepted free of charge for County residents who bring their recyclables to the Harford Waste Disposal Center at Scarboro Landfill. Charges do apply if the resident also has household trash in the same trip.
Not only is single stream recycling more convenient, a wide variety of additional items can now be recycled and diverted from the County’s waste stream. Harford County has entered into a contract with Waste Management for the disposal of the recyclable material which will reduce the annual operating expenses by $400,000 per year. Additionally, single stream is more environmentally friendly since more disposed material will be put towards secondary uses and fewer vehicle emissions will be created since the trash collectors can compact the recyclables and carry more material per trip.
Newspaper, paper bags, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, junk mail, envelopes, paperboard boxes, corrugated cardboard, soft cover books, hardback and text books, paper packaging including cereal boxes, frozen food boxes, #1-7 plastic containers (i.e. beverage and food, laundry soap, dish soap, peanut butter jars, margarine tubs, yogurt containers), glass food and beverage bottles and jars, aluminum and metal cans, aluminum foil, aluminum disposable bake ware, rigid plastic items (lawn furniture, plastic coolers, drinking cups, 5-gallon buckets, flower pots, nursery pots, laundry baskets, garbage cans, plastic toys), milk and orange juice cartons, juice boxes and empty aerosol cans (i.e. deodorant, hair spray and spray paint).
No. Yard trimmings (grass clippings, limbs, branches, bushes, leaves) must be brought to either the Harford Waste Disposal Center at the Mulch and Compost Facility, Monday through Saturday, 7am to 3pm, free of charge. Or, the former Tollgate Landfill drop off site, Saturdays from 7am to 3pm at 703 North Tollgate Rd, Bel Air.
If you seem to receive every catalog ever printed and want to help the environment and save a few trees, go to catalogchoice.org to cancel those unwanted catalogs. It’s actually fun and very user friendly.
The coroplast (polypropylene) campaign poster only (no metal or wood attached) can be disposed of with all other single stream recyclables.
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