While the specifics vary throughout the Golden Triangle, each of the region’s three primary cities offer at least one way to recycle paper, plastic and metal products.
Columbus contracts its services to Waste Pro. The company in the past offered curbside recycling pickup, but stopped providing that service in late 2013.
Still, several recycling bins are available throughout Columbus and Lowndes County, according to Waste Pro dispatcher Ruth Ann Faris.
Bins are located by Joe Cook Elementary School on Seventh Street North and at the corner of Second Avenue and Second Street North. A bin used to be located near First United Methodist Church, but Waste Pro is in the process of finding a new location for it.
Faris said Waste Pro also has a cardboard recycling bin near Party and Paper on Fifth Street South.
Waste Pro also has a bin in New Hope near New Hope High School and in Caledonia near the water tower.
In addition to the recycling bins, residents can bring recyclables to the Waste Pro recycling center at 701 Sixth Street South. The center does not accept glass products.
Faris said the center will take old monitors or TVs for $5, and large TVs for $10.
Starkville
The city of Starkville provides curbside recycling services for residents.
Starkville Sanitation and Environmental Services Director Emma Gandy said the city offers the service for a $2 monthly fee.
“Before October, we only picked up twice a month,” Gandy said. “Now we pick everyone up four times a month. We’ve gone from bi-weekly to weekly recycling service for everyone.”
Gandy said the department provides free recycling bags at its office at 506 Douglas L. Conner Drive. The department accepts plastic, metal and paper for recycling.
Gandy said the city used to have public recycling bins throughout town. However, she said they were removed after improper use.
“At one point in time, there were bins in various areas across the city,” she said. “However, they became so heavily contaminated that we removed them.”
Recyclable materials can be dropped off at the Sanitation and Environmental Services office.
Gandy said the recycling service isn’t as active as it could be.
“We don’t have a very large participating pool,” she said. “Based on just our residential number, we’re probably looking at 1-2 percent of people. We’re trying to come up with ways to get people active in it. It does come up in our conversations.”
West Point
In West Point, the city provides both curbside pickup and public bins.
Mayor Robbie Robinson said the city has several bins for plastic, metal and paper near the Pass It On thrift store on Main Street.
He said the city provides curbside pickup every other Tuesday. There’s no recurring cost for the service, though he said residents have to purchase a 60-gallon container for $60.
“We promote this annually,” he said. “We haven’t had any new customers lately because we last promoted it in the summer. Right now we have about 80 customers.”
Robinson — who noted he’s recycled for several years — said he’d like to see more people participate in the program not only for the environmental benefits, but because it helps the city save money on landfill costs.
He said the city has more than 100 recycling containers still available for residents.
Robinson also said there aren’t any current plans to expand the number of public bins.
“We’re pretty content with where they are,” he said. “They fill up and we’ll empty them once a week. Sometimes, if they’re filling up fast we’ll empty them twice a week.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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