COLLECTION
PROCESSING
Plastics
Plastic bottles are compressed into bales.
Once materials are recycled, they must be processed to be reused or made into new products, such as bottles, gardening tools, packaging or insulation.
After nishing a drink, empty any remaining liquid until the container is dry.
Once materials arrive in the facility, paper and cardboard are separated from other recyclables.
use Republic Services. Recycling and trash rates can di er from city to city depending on how many ser- vices are included as part of a city’s trash collection and recycling program. “In addition to twice- weekly trash and weekly recycling, [Keller] o ers yard waste recycling on the rst day of each custom- er’s pickup schedule, where materials go to a Living Earth facility instead of the land- ll,” Reynolds said in her email. She added that the city also o ers doorside household hazardous waste collection and electronics recycling, in which residents can call Community Waste Disposal to schedule a collection at no additional cost. The Amazon e ect Republic Services o ers trash and recycling services to about 125 North Texas cities. Recyclable materials from Roanoke, Trophy Club and Westlake travel to the company’s regional recycling center in Plano—opened in 2019—for processing. 237,000 tons of material kept out of land lls by Republic Service’s Plano Recycling Facility since 2019 Over 50,000 tons of residential and commercial recycling material received by Community Waste Disposal in 2022
Place in a recycling bin.
Cardboard
A delivery is received. Slice open the box’s tape; remove the purchased item; atten the box.
Cardboard is compressed into bales and then sent to be shredded into pieces. HANNAH JOHNSON COMMUNITY IMPACT
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Jeremy Walters, manager of external communica- tions for Republic Services, said the company processes 80,000 tons of recyclable material per year at the Plano center and has kept nearly 237,000 tons of material out of land lls since January 2019. Recyclable materials the center processes include paper, cardboard, metal and glass. “WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT OR BETTER YET, WHEN IN DOUBT, FIND OUT." JEREMY WALTERS, REPUBLIC SERVICES MANAGER OF EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS Republic’s Operations Manager Ben Ayers said the recycling industry is seeing the “Amazon e ect.” About 40% of the materials Repub- lic processes is cardboard from shipping boxes, when he said it used to be paper at
that amount. “It’s not necessarily Ama- zon; it’s the way the world’s going now [that] everyone’s going to boxes and shipping,” he said. “We’ve seen the material composition of our recycle center ip within the past 10 or 15 years.” Walters noted that Repub- lic Services is looking to increase its ability to process polymer, which is a main ingredient in plastic. Plas- tics are often ground into akes and turned into pellets to be purchased and made into new goods. “Few and far between does a bottle become a bottle again,” Wal- ters said. “Republic Services is making key investments to advance the circularity of plastics.” One of those investments will come online at the end of the year, when Walters said Republic will open its rst recycling center for polymers in Las Vegas. “Consumer packaged goods companies are demanding more recycled content for
their packaging, but currently supply falls short,” Walters said. “This facility located in Las Vegas will be the start of a nationwide network of poly- mer centers.” Education is key Understanding what items can be recycled is key for recycling, Walters said. He said people may throw items in the recycling bin when they are unsure if it can actually be recycled, which is called “wish-cycling.” These materials, such as greasy pizza boxes or shopping bags, can then contaminate good recyclables or create safety hazards in the center. “Recycling is a helpful tool to help protect the planet, but in order for us to maxi- mize our e orts, we need to recycle right,” Walters said. “When in doubt, throw it out—or better yet, when in doubt, nd out.” To help residents under- stand what can or cannot be recycled, Republic’s website www.recyclingsimpli ed.com provides education on recy-
trash collection rate has stayed the same for several years, there is a tiered pric- ing plan based on the size of the garbage cart a resident orders. Lola McCartney, com- munications coordinator and public information o cer for Fort Worth’s code com- pliance department, said in an email there have been no changes in rates from 2018 and as of now there are no expected increases for 2024. According to a city of Fort Worth website, a 32-gal- lon cart is $12.50 a month, a 64-gallon cart is $17.50 and a 96-gallon cart is $22.75. The rate is bundled, so recycling is part of the trash collection cost, no matter what size gar- bage cart is ordered. Fort Worth maintains its own trash and recycling ser- vices; Keller and Roanoke con- tract out both of these services to independent contractors. Keller uses Community Waste Disposal while Roanoke uses Republic Services. Trophy Club and Westlake—two other nearby municipalities—also
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