Starting today, residents of Cary can recycle even more waste materials. In addition to soda bottles and milk jugs, Cary will accept bulky #2 HPDE plastic in its curbside recycling bins.
Solid Waste Division Manager Bob Holden said that includes old patio furniture, storage bins, and garbage cans.
“We listened to our citizens,” Holden said. “Our citizens wanted us to look for more ways to recycle more things. And working with our contractor, they found a domestic market that would accept these specific items to make paint cans out of them.”
Scott Mouw is the state recycling program director for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He said he thinks curbside pickup for these bulky plastics is a good idea.
“Bulky-rated plastics are not the kind of material that earn a county or city a lot of money, so there is that sort of aspect of it,” Mouw said. “But it is a very legitimate recyclable material, and so, a few communities here and there are starting to add these services, add this new material, in the array of recycling services that they start to offer, and I think that's only going to expand.”
More information about the program is available here. For bigger items that won't fit in the curbside recycling carts, Holden asked that residents call Public Works ahead of collection day to arrange pickup.
Holden said he hopes Cary's residents will take advantage of the program and keep these items from going into the landfill.
