To beat the heat, the curbside recycling crews will start their collection routes at 6 a.m. this summer. To ensure your recyclables are collected, be sure to put your bin out an hour earlier than usual between Memorial Day and Labor Day. This early start will affect all curbside residents except those who live in the Borough of State College. After Labor Day, the crews will go back to their normal 7 a.m. start time.

While on the curbside recycling subject, this is a good time to offer some curbside recycling tips. Correctly preparing items to recycle curbside can help both the resident and collection crews to be more efficient.

When a curbside recycling bin is prepared incorrectly, the crews will still collect the acceptable materials but they must fill out a “Thank You for Recycling But” tag to leave in the curbside bin along with the unacceptable materials. This tag explains why unacceptable items were left in their bin. The crews may also leave a Curbside Recycling Guide in the bin for education and guidance.

The average stop for a correctly prepared curbside recycling bin is 45 seconds, while an incorrect bin stop takes much longer. At 500 stops/day, a correctly prepared bin helps our crews finish on time, every time! Tips to prepare the perfect curbside recycling bin

Place rinsed plastic bottles, jugs and jars loose in the bin. Lids may remain on. Only plastic bottles, jugs and jars are accepted curbside. If your plastic is not a bottle, jug or jar, do not place it in your bin.

Put rinsed aluminum, steel and tin cans loose in the bin. Also accepted are empty aerosol cans, clean aluminum foil, empty paint cans, pie pans and spiral cans (think breadcrumb containers).

Place rinsed clear, green, blue and brown glass bottles, jugs and jars loose in your bin. Metal lids from glass jars can also be placed in the bin. Labels do not need to be removed.

Flatten corrugated cardboard (boxes with the thick, wavy center) and place next to, in or under your bin.

Now for paper. Paper seems to be the trickiest to prepare since paper is the only item that must be bagged or bundled so that it doesn’t blow out of the bins or trucks. Bag or bundle all clean office paper, mixed paper, paperboard/pressboard (think cereal/tissue boxes), magazines and newspaper together and place in the bin. Remember – bag/bundle all of your paper. Loose paper cannot be collected even though it is recyclable.

I hope these tips help you to prepare the best bin you can. We have created a colorful, picture-filled Guide to Curbside Recycling that is available at www.centrecountyrecycles.org that can help as well. I am always available to answer questions. Give me a call at 814-238-7005 or by email at aschirf@centrecountyrecycles.org.

Courtesy : Centredaily.com