Recycling

Co-Mingled Recycling

The Morgan County Solid Waste Department is now accepting co-mingled recycling. Discover more information regarding recycling by viewing the Morgan County Recycling Program Informational document.

Co-mingled recycling includes plastic bottles, cans, and paper products collected together. This does not include plastic shopping bags. Please contact us for more information at (706) 342-5075. In addition, view the Morgan County Recycling Program Informational document.

Reasons to Recycle

Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Collecting used bottles, cans, and newspapers and taking them to the curb or to a collection facility is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental, and social returns. Some of these benefits accrue locally as well as globally.

Benefits of Recycling

  • Protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness.
  • Reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
  • Prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
  • Saves energy.
  • Decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
  • Conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
  • Helps sustain the environment for future generations.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

There are many ways to produce less waste:

  • Reduce the amount and toxicity of trash you throw away and reuse containers and products.
  • Recycle as much as possible and buy products with recycled content.
  • Practice composting by using microorganisms (mainly bacteria and fungi) to decompose organic waste, such as food scraps and yard trimmings.

Make a Difference

In Your Home

The best place to start making a difference is at home. Learn how you can reduce, reuse, and recycle materials to decrease household waste, including food, paper, electronics, cleaners, pesticides, motor oil, and lawn and garden waste. Also, check out EPA’s website for shopping tips to help make smart decisions at the store with resource conservation in mind.

At the Office

Offices contribute a significant portion of our nation’s waste stream. Understand the importance of business involvement in material and waste management, and identify opportunities to engage and motivate employers and employees. Guidance is available for small and large offices, as well as food service organizations and specialized service organizations (e.g. dry cleaners).

In Industry

Almost all industrial processes produce waste that can be turned into usable materials. In some cases, recycled goods can even enhance a product’s quality and durability, such as coal fly ash, which strengthens concrete. Discover how reusing, reducing, and recycling industrial materials and waste can have a direct, positive impact on the environment.

At the Store

Take steps when shopping to reduce the amount of waste you generate.

Recycling Facts

Recycling can save:

  • 10 cans per week can save enough energy for 30 hours of TV watching per week
  • Four Sunday papers per month save four trees per year
  • 15 plastic bottles per week is enough fiber to make 156 t-shirts per year

Stop the Dump Signs Recycling

The county sets up collection site for yard signs. In order to prevent unnecessary trash going to the landfill, Morgan County has set up a dedicated dumpster for "Stop the Dump" and realtor yard signs at the Solid Waste Transfer Station.

You can take these signs over there during their regular operating hours of weekdays 8:00 am to 3:30 pm and Saturdays 8:00 am to 12:00pm. The dumpster will be marked "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse" and is located next to the hazardous waste recycling area.

Extreme Recycling

Goal

Put as little in the landfill as possible and divert trash to Recycle, Reduce, and Reuse streams.

Purpose

To pay less taxes and be a good steward of the land.

Facts & Tips

  • While 95% of what we throw away is recyclable, less than 3% of household waste is presently being recycled in Morgan County.
  • By not adhering to posted guidelines, recycling loads get rejected at the recycling center. This costs us money. So please, obey the rules.
  • When boxes are left next the recycling dumpster without breaking down, Sanitation personnel have to stop and take the time to flatten and drop them in the bin; this wastes time and sometimes prevents rounds to be completed, thus trash accumulates at the drop-off sites. Please flatten your boxes

Recycle More

Look for items that you normally would throw away, and start a recycling container for them. For example, clean paper adds up. All those thrown away notes, junk mail, catalogs, waxed paper, milk and juice containers (flattened) can go into the paper recycling bins.

Do Your Part

Plastic packaging is not taken by Morgan County’ recycling provider; they only accept containers marked #1 and 2. But you can put all plastic packaging (fruit and veggie containers, bags, plastic bags, plastic caps, etc.) in plastic bags that go back the grocery store that accepts them, such as Walmart or Ingles. However, not all stores offer this service; get involved by requesting those stores to accept this packaging for recycling.

Compost

One-third of the content that goes into some landfills could be composted. The problem is that it takes time to do this; time that busy families don’t always have. The solution is to start a slow pile of kitchen veggie scraps and lawn waste. This is easy to do and creates great black gold humus that landscape plants will love and will cut down on summer watering.

Plan Ahead

  • Make careful buying decisions.
  • Prefer packaging that is plant-friendly.
  • Use personal water bottles instead of plastic ones and use tap water filters if you don’t like the taste of tap water.
  • Buy items in bulk when appropriate.
  • Don’t buy what you can’t use. Give away items that still have use for others. Morgan County maintains a Goodwill drop-off site at the transfer station
  • Get creative with packing materials and other castaway stuff. Popcorn instead of styrofoam pellets anyone?
  • Go paperless. Many catalog vendors, banks, insurance companies, and billing entities offer online communications and records.