New recycling bins at the Milford recycling depot. (Photo by Keith Knepp)

WARSAW — KC Recycling, in it’s “Recycled News & Views” announced big changes at community drop-off bins throughout the county starting Jan. 1.

While new receptacles and new signage are the noticeable changes, the biggest change is items that will be accepted.

The updated guidelines for the community drop-off bins include: clean paper products, metal cans and plastics No. 1, 2 and 3; everything must be rinsed before recycling, all items need to go into the bins loose, this means not in boxes or bags; no plastic bags; and all boxes must be flattened before being tossed into the bin.

Not accepted are plastics No. 4, 5, 6, 7; glass items; trash or food waste, plastic bags of any type (salt bags, grocery bags, trash bags, ziplock bags, produce bags, bread bags, cereal bags, bast that surrounded toys or other boxed items) and soiled paper products like pizza boxes, paper plates, used napkins and paper towels.

Tom Ganser, executive director of KC Recycling, stated the changes stem from not only having a new contractor coming in, but also the commodities market, which for recycling has hit rock bottom and still falling. Ganser stated the new contractor is Whitley Environmental who submitted a winning bid of $180 a ton. The previous contract was at $58.20 a ton. “If we continue taking items we did before it would be over $200 a ton,” Ganser stated. The increase in price is a direct reflection of the commodities market.

Ganser stated there is a lot of plastic where there is no market and to make an impact is to tackle the largest amount of plastics, which is No. 1, 2, 3. Those acceptable items include such plastics as milk jugs, cleaning containers and food containers. The No. 4 through 7 plastics are those used for the highest contaminants such as PVC pipes. Plastic bags are also considered one of the highest contaminants.

Additionally, the importance of rinsing recyclables is stressed by Ganser. He noted one dirty container can send a whole bin to the landfill.

Ganser stated the staff have been at the community drop-off sites providing additional educational learning to those who are dropping items off.