HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — The Environmental Protection Agency says that before donating or recycling this holiday season, especially those used electronics, it is important to check for the proper donation facilities in your area.
Here in the Rocket City area, Solid Waste Disposal Authority Executive Director Doc Holladay said if you have cardboard boxes or paper products there are two local companies that take cardboard boxes and paper products from the general public.
"One is called Dixie Pulp and Paper. They're located on Vermont Road, just south of Airport Road," Holladay said. "The other is WestRock Paper Company; they're located off of Meridian Street on Wholesale Drive. They'll also take paper products and cardboard from the general public, [as well as] metals or aluminum cans, [which] they can also recycle if they'll go to SA Metals. They're located on Triana Boulevard just south of Holmes Avenue."
The only recycling facility we don't have in the area is somewhere that will take plastics. "Even the #1 and #2 narrow-necked plastic bottles," he said, "there's really not a place to drop those off locally."
If you have been putting off getting rid of old electronics, Holladay suggests you try to get to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility over the holidays.
"Batteries can be dangerous," Holladay said. "They can cause fires. If you can change batteries in your smoke detectors, it's a good time to do it. Any old batteries, please bring them to us."
On January 6, "Operation Christmas Clean Up" is also in action across Huntsville and Madison. This curbside collection event will allow area residents an opportunity to recycle live Christmas trees, cardboard boxes, batteries, and old electronics.
"Every year we anticipate that people will have more cardboard and more things that they can actually recycle at home, and so we try to do a community cleanup," Holladay said. He stressed that only live trees will be accepted. "You also need to take the lights off of it.; the lights are not something that we really want to grind," he said.
When contributing boxes, you're asked to remove all the packing material that'll be in the cardboard boxes. Styrofoam and plastic packing material are not recyclable locally.
Holladay continued that this is the fifth year for the collection event and will be running at John Hunt Park (2315 Airport Road SW, Huntsville, AL. 35801), and at the Madison City School Stadium site (211 Celtic Drive, Madison, AL. 35758).
Holladay expects many families will be replacing major electronics come Christmas Day.
"They'll have old computers, old televisions, stereos," he said, "and we like to keep those out of the waste stream. We actually run a household hazardous waste program, A Cleaner Way, which is just off Triana Boulevard."
That facility will also be open on the day of "Operation Christmas Clean Up."
"But we take those items five days a week from 7 to 5 at no charge," Holladay added. "But it's not only just the electronics, it's the batteries, chemicals, paints, pesticides, electronic waste, anything like that."