Solid waste district has new programs for shredding and cardboard recycling

Long-term, there’s a goal to develop a recycling center in or near Portland.

In the meantime, the organization has added a couple of recycling programs in hopes of improving efficiency and service.

Jay County Solid Waste Management District last month launched a new cardboard recycling program in addition to the on-site shredding it began offering in the spring.

District director and director George McGinnis explained that the cost of hauling recycling trailers is continuing to go up, with an estimated increase of nearly 10% in the first year of the new contract when it goes into effect next year. 

“So we started trying to figure out a way that we could cut our expenses,” said McGinnis. “We’re really limited right now with the funding that we have and the programs that we can afford to do.”

As part of that process, he began tracking how much of the material that goes into recycling trailers stationed in Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey, Pennville, Bryant and Salamonie was  cardboard. The average, he found, was 50%.

Figuring that keeping that cardboard out of the trailers could save money on both hauling ($225-plus per trailer) and recycling ($50 per ton) the solid waste management district sought out a grant. It was awarded $48,528 in funding through Indiana Department of Environmental Management for a Bramidan bailer, Kubota skid loader and advertising for the new service. The new equipment arrived in early July and McGinnis is close to getting his first full bale, which will weigh more than 1,100 to 1,200 pounds.

Jay County residents and businesses can bring their corrugated cardboard — it must be clean and dry, with no plastics or styrofoam packaging — to the solid waste management district office from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. McGinnis asks that those bringing cardboard call head at (260) 729-5071 to ensure that he will be available.

Once he has eight bales, New-Indy Containerboard of Hartford City will purchase the cardboard for resale at $15/ton less than market value. So, instead of paying to haul, the district will be selling it for a slight profit.

The new shredding program got started after the district’s fall shred day had to be canceled because the company they worked with had one of its shredder trucks go down. So, again, McGinnis went looking for other options.

He found a used shredder for $4,000. With electrical upgrades — some were expected, others not — the total cost to get everything up and running was $8,900. With the cost of a single shred day at $2,100, the new set-up will pay for itself quickly.

Jay County Solid Waste Management District coordinator and director George McGinnis shows the results of recent shredding at the district office recently. The district is now offering shredding services on a daily basis rather than just a few times a year. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

The shredding service is also open to Jay County residents and businesses. Paper must have all metal — paper clips, binder clips, etc. — removed.

The service is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, year-round, rather than the two or three times a year that were offered previously.

“That’s one big advantage of it,” McGinnis said. “If you’ve just got a little box, you don’t have to wait for five or six months to hold that material until we have a shred day. You can just bring it out and we’ll shred it.”

Those who drop off shredding have the option of staying and watching their documents be shredded, or having them locked in a secure building to be shredded in a larger batch when more documents come in.

Like with the cardboard recycling, McGinnis asks that those who want to drop off documents to be shredded call ahead in order to do so.

He noted that the programs are both intended to improve efficiency and save funds to be able to be put toward other initiatives, particularly in the smaller municipalities in the county. (The bulk of the cardboard volume is in recycling trailers in Portland.)

“Basically, it all comes down to funding,” McGinnis said. “The more I can save money, the more money that I’ve got that I can place out into the surrounding areas and help support them more than we what we do.”