Aerosol Can Recycling Program

Effective November 10, 2008, the Single Stream Recycling Program was expanded to include aerosol cans.  The cans must be empty and not under pressure; lids and labels are acceptable.  If the aerosol cans are still pressurized and contain product(s), please drop them off as part of the County’s Household Hazardous Waste Program which is held at the St. Andrews Landfill during the later summer and early fall each year. 

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Battery Recycling

Each year billions of used batteries are disposed of into solid waste facilities in the United States. Each facility that makes the decision to implement battery recycling programs will help protect the environment and insure their compliance with environmental laws. On July 1, 2001, a formal program, "Operation Recharge", for battery recycling was established at the County’s six (6) convenience centers and at the St. Andrews Landfill.  Rechargeable batteries such as Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-Mh), Lithium Ion (Li-ion) and Small Sealed Lead (Pb) are eligible for the “Operation Recharge” program. Once collected, the batteries are bulk shipped to RBRC for recycling credit. To date, the program also includes the collection of lead acid batteries from cars, motorcycles, pick-up trucks, lawn mowers, R/V’s and boats. Once collected, these batteries are either provided to a recycler or included as a part of our Drop N' Swap program.  The batteries accepted may be full, drained, steel or glass cased.

Bikes for Tykes

The "Good to Go" Program is planned to be a voluntary partnership being established in an effort to help clean up the environment through prevention, reuse of materials and recycling. This CHALLENGE is designed to give residents, small charitable businesses and not-for profit organizations an opportunity to be leaders in St. Mary’s County. For example, In November 2005, our Bikes for Tykes  program was initiated at the St. Andrews Landfill - bicycles destined for disposal are now salvaged by staff and made available for restoration or distribution by volunteers and residents to those in need in our community.  

If you are interested in volunteering or do you have any suggestions, please contact our Solid Waste Manager at (301) 863-8400.

Blue Rhino

Effective May 17, 2001, the St. Andrews landfill began accepting camping stove propane tanks, oxygen tanks, acetylene bottles, carbon dioxide cylinders and freon tanks from residential and commercial customers. Acceptable container sizes are 10, 20, 30, 40 and 100 pound cylinders.  

This program allows the citizens of St. Mary’s County to safely and properly dispose of full or partially expended containers free of charge and will help reduce the costs associated with our Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day events.  All weights will be credited toward the State’s mandated recycling goals.

Boat Disposal

The County does accept old and used  boats, jet skis, canoes and rowboats at the St Andrews landfill provided that: 1) they do not exceed 20’ (feet) in length; 2) the motor and drive must be disconnected and removed, but may be disposed of at the same time as long as the customer places the motor/drive in the scrap metal pile; 3) all fluids must be drained from the fuel tank(s), oil reservoir(s) and/or holding tank(s);  and 4) the battery(s) must be disconnected and removed, but may be dropped off at the same time as long as the customer places the battery(s) in the designated drop off location. All of the above mentioned criteria must be checked at the scale house prior to acceptance and if any of the above items are not met, the water-craft must be rejected until such time the conditions are met.  Any material disposed of in the landfill will be assessed a $65 per ton fee. Any trailer tires would be accepted at no charge.

Bulky Plastics

Effective November 10, 2008, bulky rigid plastics can be recycled rather than disposed.  The new items include; plastic milk/soda crates, empty plastic buckets with metal handles, plastic laundry baskets, plastic lawn furniture, plastic totes and lids, empty plastic drums, plastic coolers, plastic flower pots, plastic drinking cups, plastic 5-gallon water bottles, plastic pallets, plastic toys and empty plastic garbage/recycling bins. The items must be recycled at the St. Andrews Landfill (free of charge) as the six (6) convenience centers are not capable of handling the bulky items. 

Buy Recycled Policy

On September 6,1994 the Board of County Commissioners adopted a Buy Recycled Policy for all County Departments. The Board realized that without sufficient market demand for recycled products, recycling collection programs will fail to achieve the objective of diverting large portions of the waste stream from disposal. Under this policy the County must use recycled content products and recyclable products in its daily operations, wherever practical and cost effective. All agencies in County Government are required to fully participate. In conjunction with the policy, the following blanket clause was included in all applicable solicitation documents, "St. Mary’s County Government prefers to buy products made with recovered materials whenever they meet performance standards, can be purchased competitively and are available at a reasonable price within a reasonable period of time." The Department of Public Works is currently purchasing retread tires for many of it’s vehicles.

The Pennsylvania Resources Council (PRC) Buyers Guide to Recycled Products lists hundreds of company names, addresses, brands and % recycled content for building materials, playground equipment, business and school supplies, furniture, clothing and household products made from recycled materials. For copies contact the PRC at (610) 333-1555 or (412) 488-7490.

Cardboard Recycling

Effective March 2, 1998 old corrugated cardboard (OCC) collection was provided at the six convenience centers. Recycling cardboard reduces the volume of waste disposed in the landfill, reduces disposal fees and can generate revenues to help offset the operational costs of the program. Corrugated cardboard is characterized by its "wavy" middle layer. Waxed cardboard and chipboard are not acceptable. Please remove all food, plastic liners, waxed paper and Styrofoam from inside the boxes. An average of more than 5,000 tons of cardboard per year is recycled from both residential and commercial sectors each year, with over half from the County convenience centers. Slotted bins have been provided at the convenience centers to help keep the material clean and dry. Reuse your boxes if you can.

Cartridge (Ink Jet ) Collection

"IT PAY$ TO RECYCLE”. Don’t throw your used ink jet cartridges away! If the cartridges have not been re-filled, re-manufactured or damaged in shipping, Enviro SMART will pay you $2 for each cartridge. On February 5, 2001, the DPW&T began recycling it’s used printer cartridges for cash.  Every time a cartridge is returned, the amount of solid waste being placed into landfills is reduced. In addition, we are minimizing the use of our limited natural resources required to produce new cartridges.  We hope to expand the program throughout all of St. Mary’s County Government departments and other public agencies-including the Naval Air Station. Most HP inkjet and laser cartridges are accepted, many of the Canon series cartridges, IBM laser, Lexmark laser and Xerox laser cartridges are also accepted. Choose one of the following simple collection methods that will work best for your organization:

Collection Envelopes can be provided by Enviro SMART. These envelopes are pre-addressed and postage paid. Just place the empty cartridge into it’s original box (or new cartridge packaging), place it in the envelope and drop it in the mail.

Collection Bins may also be utilized and are shipped to you with 50 zip-lock bags. The bins  are designed to sit on a counter in a central office location. Simply place the empty cartridge into the bag and deposit it into the display box. Once the box has been filled, it is folded shut, taped and returned to Enviro SMART via pre-paid UPS.

Envelope Dispensers are another way to start your program. The re-useable dispenser is shipped with 400 collection envelopes. Just tear of an envelope, place the empty cartridge inside and drop it in the mail. Once the envelopes are gone, simply re-order more to refill the dispenser.

Organizations interested in participating in this program may contact Enviro SMART by facsmile: (804) 272-3281 or by visiting www.EnviroSmart.org. 

Collection Envelopes are available at the six (6) convenience centers or the St. Andrews Landfill.  St. Mary’s County residents interested in recycling electronic and electrical products may also contact the county Solid Waste Manager at (301) 863-8400.

Christmas Tree Drop-Off

Beginning in December 1993, Christmas trees were accepted at the St. Andrews Landfill and Point Lookout State Park free of charge. In December 1994 the seasonal program was expanded to include drop-off locations at all six (6) County operated convenience centers and the St. Mary’s River Watershed Park. Typical collection dates are between December 26 and the end of January. Each year, trees left at the convenience centers are collected and ground into mulch at the St. Andrews Landfill and approximately 20 tons of mulch is generated from the processing the Christmas Trees.  Donations of mulch have also been made to the Horticulture Program. Trees can also be dropped off at the signed areas near the park entrances and will be used to provide animal habitats. For specific times and dates contact the Point Lookout Park Service at (301) 872-5688 or the County Solid Waste Manager at (301) 863-8400. Please remove all tinsel, garland and ornaments. Help us qualify for the SWANA Christmas Tree Recycling Excellence Award next year.

Clothing and Textile Recovery  

The collection of textiles at the convenience centers began in April 1996 thanks to the help of the Melwood Horticultural Training Center.  The initiation of this new collection campaign received the 1996 Maryland Recyclers’ Coalition Outstanding Small Government Program Award. As of March 20, 2003, Planet Aid is collecting material at all of our convenience centers. The materials are then sorted and distributed abroad to support  Red Cross disaster relief, homeless shelters, local charities, AIDS prevention /education efforts and community development projects in countries less fortunate than ours. Any kind of clean, dry clothing is acceptable. Shoes should be tied or securely fastened together. Stuffed animals and cloth dolls as well as sheets, towels, nylon shower curtains, tablecloths, napkins, hats, gloves, belts, and purses are all acceptable. Wet clothing, rugs, plastic and foam backed drapes are not acceptable. See our Reuse Directory for other drop-off locations. Between 100-150 tons of textiles are being collected from St. Mary’s County residents each year.

Commingled Containers (glass, plastic & metal containers)

SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING IS NOW AVAILABLE for your convenience. Newspaper, magazines, mixed paper, phone books, plastic and glass containers, tin / steel / aluminum cans may all be "mixed together" and no longer need to be sorted.Over 1,000 tons of commingles containers are collected in the County each year. Commingled simply means that recyclables are placed together in a collection container. When you see a recycling symbol on a product to indicate that it is MADE from recycled content, you can trust that it was (though again, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is RECYCLABLE). We strongly encourage you to buy products with recycled content to further stimulate the market for recycled materials.

Helpful Hints…

All plastic, glass, and metal containers must be places in the same designated container.

The containers may be left in a plastic or paper bag. Labels, lids and caps do not have be removed.

All plastics coded #1 and #2 & only plastics coded #3, #4, #5, #6 & #7 which are narrow neck and screw top containers are acceptable.  Effective November 10, 2008, bagged plastic film such as grocery bags, shrink wrap and stretch film are now acceptable.  The remaining plastics coded #3 thru #7 will be included  once a viable market is established.

Glass containers for food and beverages are acceptable (all colors). Plate glass or mirrors are not acceptable (please discard).

Metal (aluminum, tin, steel) containers from food and beverages.  Effective November 10, 2008 aerosol cans, aluminums pans and foil are now acceptable.

Lastly, effective November 10, 2008, aseptic packaging/gable top milk/juice cartons are now acceptable. 

Where Does It Go?

All glass, metal and plastic containers collected in this program are hauled to a processing facility, baled and sent to mills where the material(s) is processed into new containers or a variety of other products.

What do the different numbers on plastic containers mean?

The three arrows symbol is not an indication that an item can be recycled. The recycling symbol is unregulated, meaning that no authority controls who places the symbol on what product, be it recyclable or not. The plastics industry uses the recycling symbol as an “in house” coding system to identify resin types as follows:

• #1 PETE (polyethylene teraphthalate) is a clear, tough plastic. Its ability to hold carbon dioxide (carbonation) makes it great for soft drink usage. Mouthwash bottles, peanut butter jars and some spice and ketchup bottles are also made from PET.

• #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene) has excellent protective barrier properties and is used, usually, for milk and water jugs, detergents, bleaches and cleaners.

• #3 V (polyvinyl chloride) is used for telephone cable, floor mats, irrigation pipe, truck bed liners, and garbage cans.

• #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene) is used to make bottles that require flexibility. To take advantage of its strength and toughness in film form, it is used to produce grocery bags, garbage bags, shrink film and stretch film. It is also used for plastic lumber.

• #5 PP (polypropylene) is ideal for the use in caps and lids that have to hold tightly on to threaded openings. It is also used in carpet backing, auto battery cases, video cassette cases, and plastic lumber.

• #6 PS (polystyrene) is a colorless plastic that can be clear and hard. It can also be foamed to provide exceptional insulation properties. Foamed or expanded polystyrene (EPS) is used for products such as meat trays, egg cartons and coffee cups. It is also used for packaging and protecting appliances, electronics and other sensitive products. Other uses of PS include silverware, toys, plastic lumber, and garbage cans.

• #7 OTHER is used for plastic lumber, parking lot backstops, barrier retainers, fencing, sign posts, pallets, picnic tables, and playground equipment.

For more information on plastic recycling programs click here.

DROP N’ SWAP

The Department of Public Works & Transportation, as a part of its ongoing Household Hazardous Waste Collection event is planning to offer this new program. The program is designed to offer usable, low-toxicity products to the community free of charge. If you need just a little bit of stain or varnish, or some paint for a small project, you may be able to find it at the Drop N’ Swap. Our Motto is: Buy none, get one free! The best way to dispose of chemicals is to use them up as they were originally intended to be used. So look forward to coming by and paying us a visit.

Recycling Programs continued on page 2 - Click Here