Changes announced to Monroe County household recycling program

10/7/2009

LAMBERTVILLE - The environmentally conscious who routinely haul their household recyclables to collection bins in Monroe County are faced with the task of adjusting their monthly recycling habits.

Among the changes announced recently by Monroe County Solid Waste is the discontinuance of the drop-off sites at the Bedford Senior Center and Foodtown Super Market and relocating the operations to the Kroger supermarket, 3462 West Sterns Rd.

The recycling drop-off site will be available to Monroe County residents from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first and fourth Saturday of the month.

Jamie Dean, Monroe County Solid Waste coordinator, said the changes are designed to have the recycling drop-off site in a location that is convenient to users.

"The bins are in a high traffic area. The Kroger store has extra space in its parking lot," she said.

The changes began Oct. 1.

Mrs. Dean said residents will still have the same number of opportunities as they did before to dispose of newspapers and plastic and glass containers.

Previously, the bins at the Bedford Senior Center in Temperance were available on the first Saturday of the month and the Foodtown site was open for deposits on the fourth Saturday of each month.

"There is no change in availability. There is just a change in location," said Mrs. Dean. "I think it is going to be an adjustment in the beginning. Hopefully we will be able to keep the same schedule and everyone will be able to adjust and plan."

Called RecycleNow, the countywide program gives residents whose communities don't provide curbside recycling with the opportunity to drop off recyclables at collection centers.

The program is sponsored by the county and Republic Waste, which bears the cost of hauling in the bins and taking the recyclables to a processing facility.

Other changes in the program include adding a day to the monthly Wednesday drop-off site at the Meijer, 1700 North Telegraph Rd., in Frenchtown Township, and reducing the collection at the Kroger on South Monroe Street in Monroe to one day a month.

"The bins at the site at Meijer, like the ones down in Lambertville, are full every week so we had to make changes to our schedule to accommodate increased participation," Mrs. Dean said.

The hours and days of the Meijer location are the first, second, third, and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The drop site at the Kroger, 850 South Monroe, will be available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Saturday of the month.

Also, the drop-off site at the Kroger on East Monroe Street in Dundee moves from Wednesday to Tuesday, when it is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There are no changes in the drop-off site at St. Joseph Church, 2238 Manhattan Rd., Erie. It continues to operate from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month.

More information on recycling programs and materials accepted can be obtained at myecoville.com/monroe.