182,000 Pounds of Recyclables Collected at Final Event of 2015

182,000 Pounds of Recyclables Collected at Final Event of 2015

/ December 28, 2015 / Comments Off on 182,000 Pounds of Recyclables Collected at Final Event of 2015 / Environment, Events, Recycling, Volunteers

Sustainability recycling Depositphotos_84022690_m-2015

The Kane County Recycles monthly event will be on hiatus until April, so the final event of 2015 had a little extra meaning this year and a little extra oomph.

Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Jarland reports that a total of 182,460 pounds of material was recycled!

“That is a crazy amount of material,” Jarland said. “In fact, it is equivalent to about 50 Ford Tauruses in weight! … Or 121 cows – full-grown Holstein heifers! … Or nearly 1,000 adult male red kangaroos!  … OK, you get the picture: cars and cows and kangaroos! As you can see, these events make me a bit bonkers!”

In all, Kane County volunteers served about 1,500 vehicles on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015. About 800 is the average.recycle Books

During the 8 a.m. to noon event, volunteers recycled:

  • 10,560 pounds of books (that Dumpster was filled)
  • 900 pounds of cardboard
  • 25,000 pounds of shredded documents (two full trucks)
  • 6,000 pounds of paint (601 cans of paint)
  • 42,460 pounds of subtotal, PLUS …

“We don’t have the final weight yet, but we filled six 53-foot trailers and two 26-foot box trucks with electronics!” Jarland said. “Based on past records, I estimate that we collected around 140,000 pounds of electronics.”

That total — 140,000 pounds of electronics — might tie a record for Kane County recycling events.

The next Kane County Recycles event will take place April 9, 2016, at the usual location: the Traffic Court building at 540 S. Randall Road in St. Charles. The outdoor collection event will continue to serve Kane County residents from 8 a.m. to noon on the second Saturday of the month, from April through November 2016. Please see the Kane County Recycles website for more information.

Events like these don’t happen without a lot of coordination, planning and volunteer work.

“Thank you so much for being a part of another successful event!” Jarland said in an email to the volunteers and collection partners. “I am so glad that — though it was foggy and damp — we were spared rain, and it was a balmy 45 to 50 degrees all morning. Again, thank you for all of your hard work! As I have said before, it would not be possible without your and everyone’s help.”

About Kane County Recycles

The Kane County Recycles office manages recycling programs for electronics, books, hazardous materials, and other hard-to-recycle materials, and promotes best practices for household recycling, commercial business recycling, and composting. This office oversees recycling-related information and community outreach initiatives, oversees the annual licensing of Waste and Recycling Haulers, provides backyard compost bins, and implements the Kane County Solid Waste Plan. The office oversees the Recycling and Hauler Licensing Ordinance which requires commercial businesses and multi-family residences to recycle, and provides the provisions for hauler licensing and reporting.

For all you ever needed to know about recycling in Kane County see the Kane County Recycles webpage and also sign up here to receive an electronic copy of the new Green Guide each spring.

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