Recycle Floyd County plans initiatives, seeks funding to expand recycling

Sep. 27—FLOYD COUNTY — Every two weeks, Mark Lawrence drops off his recycling at the county's drop-off site at the Galena Digital Library.

"It's easy to drop off here, and they take care of it," he said. "It's not that much of a hassle to recycle and all that. It's great for our environment, and I'm glad our county does this as well."

Although workers at Floyd County's recycling centers see many repeat users such as Lawrence, local officials want to see many more people committed to recycling by the end of the decade.

The Floyd County Solid Waste Management District, or Recycle Floyd County, aims to become the first county in the state to recycle 50% of household trash by 2030.

Floyd County Solid Waste Manager Scott Stewart said the district plans to achieve this goal through the expansion of education, access and partnerships in Floyd County.

In 2022, about 51,000 vehicles visited the district's two recycling drop-off centers, generating more than 1.7 million pounds of recyclable material.

He said that although many people in Floyd County are passionate about recycling, the "potential to increase both the number of people recycling and the volume of materials collected is significant."

Floyd County Councilman Brad Striegel, president of the Floyd County Solid Waste District's board of directors, said the board voted unanimously last year to approve the "50 by 30" goal.

In 2022, the solid waste district rebranded itself as "Recycle Floyd County" to better reflect its mission.

Striegel said Stewart has a "great skill set to take us to the next level" with the district's recycling goals.

"We really want to change the mindset of our communities to have recycling be a part of their daily lives instead of just something they do every once in a while," Striegel said.

The district has applied for a $101,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), which would allow Floyd County to add two additional trailers for recycling collection. The grant would require a 50% match from the county.

"So access [and] additional trailers allows us to have more flexibility in our planning and placement," Stewart said.

The grant would also support community education and marketing efforts, including a planned partnership with Indiana University Southeast.

"So should this grant come through, we'll be able to take a handful of IUS students focusing on sustainability and involve them in the planning and execution of our community outreach and education efforts," he said.

One of the goals is to receive $10,000 in grant funding to support outreach in local schools. Laura Riggle, one of the operators at the county's recycling centers, is now serving as an educator in the recycling district. She is creating a curriculum to be taught in schools throughout the county, including public, private and charter schools.

"Our idea is to make sure that every fourth grader in Floyd County understands recycling, what it's about, what its value is and most importantly to become ambassadors to motivate their parents to recycle as well," Stewart said.

Riggle said many residents are already teaching their kids about recycling as they bring them along to the county's recycling centers.

"They are good ambassadors already, so with this educational outreach, we're hoping to increase that manyfold so we can get closer to that 50% goal," she said.

John Schellenberger noted the importance of educating kids about recycling.

"I'm old enough to remember the cars that didn't have seatbelts, and then seatbelts came along, and kids were the ones reminding [parents], hey, you don't have your seatbelt on," he said. "Starting [recycling education] in youth and grade school, they will be the ones kind of encouraging their parents if they don't recycle."

Stewart is also seeking an IDEM grant for a recycling baler that would allow for more efficient processing of recyclable materials such as aluminum cans. This would help increase the district's revenue.

"Generally you get far less for loose materials, but if you can bale them, you can earn three times as much revenue at that," he said. "While we're grateful to the county commissioners for funding the lion's share of our budget, we have to earn a big portion as well, so baling would be a way to do that."

Recycle Floyd County's annual budget is about $475,000, and it is funded through the Floyd County Commissioner's Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).

Floyd County Recycling Operations Manager Dave Watson said the recycling centers are mainly staffed by part-time employees. He notes that the Galena site has a large number of people stopping by in a short period since it is only open one day a week.

For Tom Quinkert, the most rewarding part of being an operator for Recycle Floyd County is helping older residents.

"We're just here to help them if they need something taken out of their car or brought wherever it needs to be," he said. "We're trying to get them in and out of here with a smile."

He likes the opportunity to get different generations involved with recycling.

"If you can keep the older ones recycling, and we could teach the younger ones how to recycle, the world's gonna be a better place," Quinkert said.

The district offers recycling at 3005 Grant Line Road from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday — Friday and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The recycling center at the Galena Digital Library is only open Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.