Recycling group experiences success

The importance of “going green” and recycling to mitigate the impact of recyclable waste in the nation’s landfills and conserving energy goes beyond switching off the TV, collecting corrugated cardboard and turning down the thermostat.

This important fact is not lost on the staff of the PrairieLand Resource Conservation and Development Council headquartered in Madison.

PrairieLand completes between five and eight used tire collections throughout the six counties in its service area each year.

In recent years this has added up to recycling an average of 400 to 500 tons of old tires and 20 to 30 tons of tire rims each year.

“The scrap metal dealer who handled the rims for the recent Clarkson collection hauled off over 30,000 pounds of metal,” said Allen Mittan, council coordinator. At $160 to $180 per ton, that is some good income but well-earned due to the hot, dirty job of removing the tires from the rims.”

Mittan said it’s important to remember to dispose of old rims as well as used tires because the rims will pool enough water to breed mosquitoes “and,” he said, “West Nile is still a concern.”

PrairieLand has sponsored one used computer/electronics collection each of the last two years and this year publicized the acceptance of televisions and other electronics more than in the past. He said the council’s two used electronics collections averaged about 20 tons per collection.

“We did receive a lot more large TVs and some microwaves,” he said. “Most of the rest that was collected was computer/office equipment related.”

Mittan said all of the communities that sponsor the drives provide great cooperation for the used tire collections and the council tries to add at least one new community each year as a means of building positive public relations.

Contributors to the council’s most recent used computer/electronics collection included Battle Creek Coop, D & D Industries, Fields Hardware, Madison Foods and Oschner Grain, all of Madison and Affiliated Foods and Nebraska Machinery of Norfolk.

“We have three natural resources districts that act as the applicants for the used tire grants from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality,” Mittan said. “The electronics collection grant funds also come from NDEQ so they are an important partner in our recycling efforts We have done enough of the tire collections now that people expect it and call us a lot to find out sites and dates.”

Mittan said in addition to these efforts, 12,786 gallons of used oil were collected in PrairieLand from October of 2004 through June of 2006.

The PrairieLand RC&D serves the counties of Boone, Colfax, Madison, Nance, Platte and Stanton.

Another important player in increasing the life span of area landfills is the non-profit organization, Keep Columbus Beautiful. Heather Buttaro is the coordinator of Keep Columbus Beautiful.

“Keep Columbus Beautiful hosts two computer collections per year, usually in May and September,” Buttaro said.

Buttaro said the organization averages 18,000 pounds of computers per collection. She said the annual tire collection will be Oct. 10-12 at the Platte County Agricultural Park.

She also is pleased to be part of the cooperative program with Loup Power District to collect compact florescent lamps for recycling.

“Last year’s tire collection brought in 144 tons of used tires,” Buttaro said. “This year we’re funded for up to 250 tons. As to the CFL collection program, area residents can bring those to any Loup Power District office or to our office at the Family Resource Center.”

Buttaro said the cooperative program with Loup is “a program ahead of the curve.” She said the first generation of CFLs, which typically last five to six years are beginning to burn out, and in the next year, many millions of the energy efficient light bulbs will begin to find their way into the trash.

“It’s really important to dispose of the CFLs properly,” Buttaro said. “Each one of them contains a very small amount of mercury, but with the millions of the first ones coming to expiration, that adds up to a whole lot of mercury that we don’t need in our landfills.”

Keep Columbus Beautiful also holds a Household Hazardous Waste collection every other year. Buttaro said the next hazardous waste collection will be held in the spring of 2009 if the funding comes through. Another program she’s working on is the WasteCap program which will allow the collection of the two-foot and four-foot household florescent lighting tubes.

“The WasteCap program will be held in the spring if we get the funding,” she said.

Buttaro said another successful program is the annual plastic bottle collection contest sponsored by Keep America Beautiful which is held in the elementary schools each year. She said Columbus area schools participate each year in the national and local contests.