Plastic materials are probably some of the most difficult things to recycle. This is because wherever you go and whatever you buy, plastic seems to be involved. There is so much of it. There are seven different kinds of plastic and we can only reliably recycle three of the seven plastic materials in our curbside carts and community recycling drop sites. There is another distinct reason why only three of the seven plastics can be recycled through our typical recycling program: markets.

Recyclers and companies will pay for your post-consumer recyclables if there is a market for them. If there isn’t any demand for the other plastic materials (such as plastic toys, garden hoses, diapers, Styrofoam, car parts, etc.) it makes them almost useless. If a resident places these items in their curbside cart or community recycling drop sites, it won’t make a difference because there isn’t anyone who can make money off of them. They are pulled out and landfilled despite a resident’s best hope. This is also called wish-cycling.

Lyon County can recycle three very important plastic materials which are plastic resin codes, 1, 2 and 5. These numbers are generally found within the recycling logo found on many plastic products. This code does not mean that any given material is recyclable. In fact, the recycling logo is just a suggestion that something has the possibility that it can be recycled. These codes are used so that manufacturers know what kind of plastic any given item is made up of. Resin codes 1, 2 and 5 make up the vast majority of items that are found in our kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. They are items that are plastic bottles, tubs and jugs.

If we start thinking about plastic material recycling with the idea that we can recycling pretty much any plastic food container and any plastic personal care container, you will be capturing most of those items that we can take in our current program. A few good examples are: plastic pop bottles, yogurt containers, plastic milk jugs, plastic laundry soap containers, plastic shampoo containers, berry containers, ketchup bottles or cottage cheese containers.

We are fortunate that in Lyon County we can also recycle some of the plastic resin code 6 which is Styrofoam. However, this is recycled through an alternative recycling program. Styrofoam is not collected for recycling through curbside recycling or community recycling drop sites nor is it collected if it is dropped into one of the many cardboard recycling containers located at our recycling drop sites. Residents and businesses either have to throw it away or bring it to the Marshall Household Hazardous Waste facility for free. The Styrofoam is recycled into household decorative moldings and foam picture frames.

If Styrofoam is placed into curbside carts, your cart can be rejected for having this material in the cart. We do not have a way to capture it and place it into our alternative recycling program. Recycled materials that are placed into curbside carts or community drop sites are generally brought to a transfer station, sorted and then transported to other areas of the state to go to a material recovery facility. The cleaner the recyclables are when they are brought to the recovery facility, the higher quality they are which means they are worth a lot more money. If a recycling materials load is contaminated with things such as Styrofoam, diapers, garden hoses and the like, it can be rejected and sent to the landfill. The hard work of all of those who have been choosing to recycle according to the rules will have recycled for nothing because the whole load of recyclables including the materials that were not supposed to go into the load will be sent to a landfill. It is important to know what to recycle and to know what to throw. We are counting on the public to do the right thing.

For more information on recycling or disposing of materials that you no longer need or want, please call the Environmental Department at 507-532-8210. The hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and every second Saturday of the month from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The landfill is located between Lynd and Russell. The phone number for the landfill is 507-865-4615. The hours of the landfill is Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturdays 7 a.m.-noon.