A few reminders when visiting the Recycling Center & Drop Boxes

This is a picture of what was recently inside the glass recycling drop box at Thunder Mountain High School. There’s a lot more than just glass in there unfortunately. This is an extreme case; this sort of contamination isn’t normal, but it does occasionally happen.

Between Alaska Waste, Waste Management, CBJ, and the public, around 8% of the landfill’s annual tonnage for 2018 was diverted into recyclable material. While that may not sound like a lot, this is actually really good. Within the state, Juneau is a leader in recycling. The recycling center and the drop boxes located around town need some help though. By separating the recyclable material correctly, CBJ’s recycling program can continue to be successful and respond to community needs.

Here are a few reminders when visiting the Recycling Center and Drop Boxes that will help prevent what’s going on in the picture:

• The only plastics accepted must have the chasing arrow symbol around a 1 or 2 on any individual piece of plastic. If you do not see the numbers 1 or 2, you can’t recycle it at the center or drop boxes.
• No plastic bags of any kind are accepted. If you store recyclables in plastic bags, empty them into the containers, but please do not throw the bag in as well.
• Break down cardboard boxes so more material can be stored before having to process.
• In the tin and aluminum sections, only cans are accepted; no other scrap metal.
• When recycling hardcover books, please remove the front and back covers, as well as the spine, before putting the inner pages in the mixed paper section.