Recycling is becoming one of the most popular ways for individuals to join the “green revolution,” and by a look around the community recycling station on a Monday morning, it is clear many people in Fountain Hills are trying to participate.

Raymond Rees, environmental planner for the Town of Fountain Hills, spends his Monday mornings, and sometimes over the weekend, trying to squeeze a little more space into the overflowing bins in the Library/Museum parking lot.

Rees explains that Waste Management will not pick-up the bins if they are so full that material falls out as they are lifted. The hauler also does not want any material on the ground outside the bins.

The Dumpsters are picked up on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and they are nearly always full, particularly on Mondays. The town is collecting about 108 cubic yards of material on a weekly basis that is diverted from landfills.

The town established the central recycling location in response to the desire of Fountain Hills residents to participate in recycling. Not all independent trash haulers serving the community offer recycling services.

The response was great enough that it took a couple of tries to work out an effective system.

“We started the program with two six (cubic)-yard containers, and then moved up shortly thereafter to a 40-yard dumpster,” Rees said. “The demand and the inability to contain the recycling inside the large Dumpster led us to change back to the six-yard containers.”

After going back to the smaller Dumpsters the town soon had to increase the number of containers from two to six, and eventually increased the number of collections from two to three.

Rees said that had been working pretty well, but in the past month or so they are seeing more overflow on the weekend. He said staff has been working to keep the material inside the bins.

In an effort to make sure the situation does not get too far out of hand, Rees said they are looking at options for recycling cardboard materials.

“(That) accounts for a large amount of the product in the bins,” Rees said. “This would allow us to handle our current load of recyclables, while not increasing our cost.

“The downside is that it would require residents to separate cardboard from their other recyclables.”

The town is paying $1,350 per month for the recycling collection. The current market is down for recyclable materials so the town does not receive any revenue for the material.

Rees said he has been told that typically a hauler will receive $5 per ton for recyclables.

The town wants to encourage residents to take items to the Dumpsters at times other than Monday or the weekend, Rees said.

He offered some other tips to help make the system work smoother.

Try to bring recyclables on Tuesday or Thursday, after one of the scheduled pickups.

Make sure all boxes are broken down. By putting in boxes that are not broken down, it takes up space, and the town doesn’t want to have to pay to have air hauled away. 

Don’t overfill the containers. The hauler cannot dump the containers when they are overfilled because items fall out and create a mess. 

Do not leave items outside of the containers. The wind, coyotes and other desert creatures enjoy rooting in items left outside, creating an even greater mess.

What goes or not

Residents also ask regularly what should and should not be put in the recycling bins. Here are some of the do’s and don’ts.

Items that can go in the recycling bins include:

Brown grocery bags
File folders
Plain paper
Magazines
Newspapers and inserts
Telephone books
Glass food and beverage containers (clear, green or amber)
Cardboard, cereal boxes dry food boxes (no liners)
Milk, juice and ice cream containers
Beverage cans
Clean aluminum foil
Food cans made of steel or tin
Empty aerosol cans. 
All plastic containers with a screw top or with the base larger than the neck regardless of the recycling number.

Items that should not be put in the recycling bins include:

Plastic bags of any kind.  Safeway, Bashas’ and Fry’s are all set up to take in all types of clean plastic bags and film sheet plastic.

Because the town’s recycling is co-mingled, the recycler uses combines to separate items at the recycling facility. The plastic bags and film sheet plastic gets tangled up in the combines, and they can damage or ruin their machines.    

No food trays,
No pizza boxes,
No folding chairs,
No umbrellas,
No wood or metal blinds,
No Styrofoam of any kind, like packing material or popcorn packing material, 
No padded mailing envelopes,
No diapers,
No facial tissue,
No pet food bags,
No detergent boxes,
No paper towel or tissue rolls,
No hardbound books,
No light bulbs,
No window or mirror glass,
No ceramic pottery.