Recycling has been a part of our lives for 32 years. Recycling provides a renewable resource and decreases our dependency on raw materials. It also decreases the amount of product filling up the landfill, product that may take hundreds of years to biodegrade.
To stay current with the changes in the recycling industry, on January 1, 2019, the Cumberland County Improvement Authority (CCIA) changed plastic acceptance to only #1 and #2. The CCIA has also reminded citizens to rinse food containers and keep “tanglers”—plastic bags, clothes, hoses, and wires—out of the recycling stream. These items make it harder to recycle, can contaminate a whole load of recycling, and disrupt the recycling process at the material separation facility.
“This has been a big year for recycling…we all want to do the right thing. I commend Cumberland County. Our message is getting out there…. Our recycling stream is looking less contaminated every day,” says Loretta Pregartner, Cumberland County recycling coordinator.
Visit ccia-net.com/recycling/ or contact Pregartner at 856-825-3700, ext. 1270, with questions about county recycling programs.
