Lincoln’s post-Christmas recycling waste adds to the tens of tons already processed daily

Posted By: Alden German
agerman@klkntv.com

Tons of trash is thrown out every day across Lincoln, and it either goes to the landfill or is sent to be recycled. With another holiday season coming to a close, recycling facilities are seeing an increase in material.

“We’ve seen about a ten per cent increase this month over last month in our single stream and our cardboard both. We normally see an increase this time of year,” Kelley McReynolds, CEO of Lincoln’s Green Quest Recycling, said.

The recent cardboard ban has also caused an increase in recycling production. A lot of it’s taken to processing centers like Lincoln’s Green Quest Recycling.

Green quest processes up to ten tons of material per hour – that’s roughly 130 tons a day.

Everything that comes in has to be sorted, and seven people spend their day quickly grabbing stuff off a conveyor belt and putting it where it needs to be. Those materials are generally plastic bottles, aluminum cans, or other types of metals. Everything else continues on the conveyor until it’s dumped into a large pile at the end.

Green Quest can’t recycle everything, however.

“The number one thing always is plastic bags. Plastic bags are not recyclable in our stream. You can take them back to the local grocery store and they’ll provide a plastic bag recycling service,” McReynolds said.

As a city, only five to six per cent of materials sent to be recycled can’t be. That’s better than the national average per city which is around 20 per cent. If you’re not sure if something can be recycled, what should you do?

“The most common phrase is ‘when in doubt, throw it out.’ If you have a question on anything on whether it can or can’t be recycled it’s better to just put it in a trash can than a recycle bin,” McReynolds said.

Those who regularly recycle say it’s not that hard.

“It’s very easy, it’s as easy as throwing something in the trash, so why not? It’s all about having a habit. It’s all about, you know, what is the easiest way for you?” Julia Torquati, a Lincolnite who regularly recycles, said. “We have a small bin by the back door that we fill up and then take out by the garage.”

Recycling centers are generally busiest in the latter half of the year when holidays come one after another. Their work load generally decreases after the start of the new year and into the spring when there are fewer gift-giving holidays.

There are several recycling drop-off sites across the city for those who still have Christmas boxes or wrapping paper they’d like to drop off. To find one close to your home, visit https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/solid-waste/recycle/dropoff-sites.htm. Local businesses must contact recycling collection services themselves. For a list of those options, visit https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/solid-waste/recycle/collectors.htm#recycling-processors.