• By Aubrie Welch
• Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Recycling in the County: Good for the Environment and Good for Your Bottom Line!

All households and small businesses in unincorporated areas of the county can now sign up for optional curbside recycling collection service by calling 723-5744.

Curbside recycling collection service is available in all unincorporated areas of Forsyth County. This is an optional subscription service for households and small businesses. Recyclables are collected every other week from 96 gallon carts.

The beauty of single stream collection service is that all recyclables can be placed in the cart together; no separation necessary!

This convenient, optional service is available for the low price of just $2.65 per month, which includes use of the cart. Recycling is a great way to reduce the amount of trash you have to dispose of, which can reduce your bill for garbage collection service (depending on the volume of garbage you generate). Do the math; if you are currently paying for collection of 96 gallons of garbage each week, your quarterly bill is $59.76 for three months of service. If you are also renting a 96-gallon trash cart, your quarterly bill is $68.76. Incorporating recycling can easily reduce your weekly volume, in most cases well below 64 gallons per week, which would result in a quarterly bill of $44.76 for trash collection, plus $7.95 for 3 months of recycling service for a total of $52.71. You can easily save money by recycling. Subscribing to the curbside collection program is cheaper than driving to one of the drop off centers; a month of service costs less than 1 gallon of gas! Conserving natural resources, saving energy, and reducing pollution are all important, well documented benefits of recycling. Recycling also extends the life of our landfill and creates local jobs. At just $2.65 per month, this new service is an incredible value!

To subscribe to recycling collection service, please call Waste Management at (336) 723-5744. Upon signing up, a cart will be delivered to your home as quickly as possible. Recyclables which will be collected:

*Please rinse all food and beverage containers.

• All plastics numbered 1 through 7
• Aluminum beverage cans
• Aluminum pie tins and foil
• Glass food and beverage jars and bottles (caps removed)
• Steel, tin and bi-metal food and beverage cans
• Empty aerosol cans (remove and discard cap, do not crush)
• Cardboard juice and milk cartons
• Cereal and food boxes (remove plastic or foil liners)
• Corrugated cardboard
• Mail, office paper, envelopes, newspapers and inserts, phone books, magazines, catalogs (but not books, spiral notebooks or binders)
• Shredded office paper must be bagged in a clear plastic bag.

The following items cannot be put in the recycle carts for collection: books, garden hoses, light bulbs, Styrofoam, plastic bags or wrap, ceramics, dishes, drinking glasses, mirrors, window glass, paint cans, containers for motor oil, antifreeze, pesticides and other household chemicals.

For more information about the new recycling collection service please call the Forsyth County Office of Environmental Assistance and Protection at 703-2440.