“I Recycle” is the 2011 theme and thousands of Americans pledged to increase their recycling habits at home and at work, according to Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau. More than 100 events across the state were held and some are continuing throughout this month to encourage all Tennesseans to join these efforts and make a commitment to better protect and preserve our natural resources by reducing our waste stream.
Keep Tennessee Beautiful partnered with state agencies such as TDOT, TDEC, TWRA and the Tennessee Recycling Coalition to promote recycling programs in cities, counties, nonprofits and local schools.
These projects are designed to encourage employees and residents of the Volunteer State to both reduce individual waste production and to recycle as much waste as possible.
More info can be found at www.americarecyclesday.org.
Though Recycling Day was Tuesday, it’ not too late to get in on the important recycling efforts in your own way. Cleveland and Bradley work together to help our community do our part. But we can do more.
Bradley County has three recycling facilities. Below is a list of locations along with items accepted at each facility.
n Bradley County Landfill, located at 282 Nature’s Trail, McDonald, accepts glass, aluminum drink cans, newspapers, mixed paper, light corrugated and regular cardboard, as well as batteries, used oil and white goods. Landfill hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Saturday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
n Urbane Road facility, located at 234 Urbane Road in Cleveland, accepts glass (clear, brown and green), newspapers, mixed paper, corrugated paperboard, aluminum drink cans, steel food cans and cellphones. It is also now accepting recycling plastics (Numbers 1-7) which don’t need to be sorted. Hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 1 to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
n Peerless Road facility, located at 3110 Peerless Road in Cleveland, accepts glass (clear, brown and green), newspapers, mixed paper, corrugated paperboard, aluminum drink cans, steel food cans and cellphones. It too is now accepting recycling plastics (Nos. 1-7). Also, Bradley County has launched a Computer/Electronics Recycling Program at our Peerless Road Facility. You may now recycle your outdated desktop computers, laptop computers, keyboards/mice, printers, scanners, copy machines, VCRs, stereos, radios, mainframes, fax machines, electronic games, power and network rechargeable batteries, network hubs, switching boxes, controllers, modems, docking stations, CD ROMs, hard drives, diodes, terminals, peripherals, military equipment, medical equipment, telecommunications, commercial equipment, office equipment and banking equipment.
No TVs or computer monitors can be accepted for recycling at the Peerless Road facility. Hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Each year, Cleveland-Bradley Keep America Beautiful, along with Bradley County, Santek Environmental, Cleveland Utilities and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation sponsor a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day at the Bradley County Landfill. This gives citizens an opportunity to properly dispose of household toxins that are extremely dangerous to the environment. JoAnn Maskew does a great job at coordinating this for KAB and can provide details of the next Hazardous Waste Collection Day if you contact her at 476-9160 for more information about this event.
The State Employee Recycling Program, coordinated by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, does a great job with our state program and continues to expand its waste prevention and recycling efforts.
With more than 32,000 state employees participating, nearly 800 tons of mixed office paper were recycled in 2010, generating more than $28,000 in revenue and saving almost $23,000 in landfill costs. See www.tn.gov/encironment/ea/serp for more information.
Since its inception in 1990, state employees have recycled 17,618 tons of mixed office paper, saving $525,000 in landfill disposal costs while generating nearly $195,000 in recycling revenue. These recycling revenues are deposited in the Solid Waste Management Fund which is used to help assist local communities in their solid waste reduction efforts.
TDEC was recently inducted into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise Hall of Fame for its efforts to reduce waste through the State Employee Recycling Program. The Hall of Fame is the highest honor awarded to WasteWise partners and indicates a continued commitment to progressive waste reduction activities.
We as Cleveland and Bradley residents — and as Tennesseans — should get on board and do our part to reduce waste.
