First drive-thru recycling center marks step forward in Jackson

The grand opening of Jackson's first drive-thru recycling center on Tuesday marks a monumental step in the city's recycling development.

Located at 74 Conalco Drive, residents can bring their plastics #1 and #2 to the center to be separated across numerous green bins in the lot. With education at the forefront of the recycling initiative, an attendant will be on-site to aid Jacksonians in how to separate their recyclables and which respective bins they belong in.

Acceptable plastics to be recycled include items like beverage bottles, milk and water jugs, laundry detergent bottles and cleaning supplies, shampoo and conditioner bottles, and condiment containers. Corrugated cardboard, paper, and paper board materials like cereal boxes will also be accepted. Metal beverage and food cans are able to be recycled at the center as well and will be held in a separate area.

Following a demonstration by residents and attendants showing how the drive-thru operates, Mayor Scott Conger described the center as "a great first step that we've taken in bringing recycling to Jackson" but assured that it wouldn't be the last step.

"This has been a long process of getting here, of education, of hiring a recycling coordinator," Conger explained.

He thanked various agencies for their role in bringing the recycling center to fruition, including the Health and Sanitation Department and city departments like grounds keeping, maintenance, and Keep Jackson Beautiful.

The recycling center project totaled approximately $30,000, according to Conger.

Recycling Coordinator Robin Chance noted that the opening of the center is an instrumental step in eventually reaching the goal of curbside recycling for Jackson residents.

"The first thing that I wanted to do is get a successful program with our bins and what that meant was pulling those out and supervising those," Chance said. "We want a lot of education, especially going into the potential of curbside. Contamination costs quite a bit, especially in curbside, so why not keep that down? And through this recycle center and the events that we have, we're going to help do that for Jackson."

She added that the first step of our program was altering the common phrase of "reduce, reuse, recycle" to instead be "refuse, reuse, recycle" in an effort to encourage consumers to refuse to buy items that are not recyclable.

"It's relatively easy to recycle, a lot of people think it's pretty expensive to recycle," Chance said. "The point of this recycle center is to make it affordable and easy access with vast hours so that it works into anyone's schedule."

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Jackson's first drive-thru recycling center was unveiled on Tuesday