What exactly happens to your recycling in Lexington? It depends on the materials
Have you ever wondered what happens to the plastic bottle or cardboard you drop in the recycling bin?
About 99,000 Lexington-Fayette households are served by weekly curbside recycling pick ups, and there are also drop-off locations available for everyone, including people who live outside the county.
Recycled items can end up in many places, but the Herald-Leader spoke with two Lexington employees involved with the city’s recycling program to learn more. Here’s what to know.
What happens to recyclable items in Lexington?
When Lexington waste management officials receive items from curbside recycling bins or drop-off locations, they’re sorted at a facility near downtown.
Lexington-Fayette partners with about 20 different vendors who accept recyclable materials such as glass, plastic and more. Lauren Monahan, environmental initiatives specialist for waste management in Lexington, told the Herald-Leader city officials utilize local recycling vendors when possible.
Since specialized facilities are necessary to recycle specific materials, it’s sometimes necessary to venture beyond Kentucky. City officials aim to keep recycling within a six-hour radius of the region, Monahan said.
Because recycling requires energy and travel, it’s important to focus first on reducing consumption and reusing items when possible, according to Angela Poe, program manager senior of public information and engagement with the Department of Environmental Quality and Public Works in Lexington.
When making a purchase decision with the environment in mind, it can be helpful to consider the recyclability of the material, as well as its potential for reuse in your household.
For example, glass is heavy and travels to Atlanta from Lexington when recycled. It can cause issues with equipment and its recycling burns more fossil fuels since it has to travel out of state. But choosing a product in a glass container can be a more environmentally friendly option if you wash it out and reuse it.
Similarly, buying a reusable grocery bag may help the environment if you use it consistently enough to offset the environmental effects of its purchase, but if it sits in your closet unused, you might have been better off forgoing the purchase.
Some items, such as aluminum, are great at maintaining their properties and are more recyclable than others.
“One of the nuances of recycling material is that things like aluminum maintain their properties again and again and again, which is why we say it’s infinitely recyclable,” Poe said. “Paper products, cardboard, the fibers that are involved get shorter each time they’re processed and at some point, they’re too short to be recycled.”
If you place an aluminum can in a recycling bin, it’s possible it will end up back on a shelf in as little as six weeks, Poe continued. Another benefit of recycling aluminum is it can be recycled in Lexington rather than having to be sent out of state.
“Generally, aluminum is one of the easiest materials to recycle, it doesn’t take a lot of energy to melt aluminum down to create new aluminum cans or products,” Monahan said.
Plastic bottles can become a variety of products, Monahan continued, including fleece clothing, plastic pellets for packaging or strapping to secure materials for shipping.
Cardboard is typically shredded and turned into a pulp to become brown paper, shipping envelopes or a cardboard box.
How to recycle properly in Lexington
Before tossing an item into the recycling bin, Poe encouraged residents to first check if it’s actually recyclable.
“A recycle symbol doesn’t really mean anything. People can stick a recycle symbol on anything, but that doesn’t mean there’s markets that we can actually send the material to. And it doesn’t mean that our equipment, our process is set up to sort it,” Poe said.
Items that can be recycled at mixed-use bins include plastic bottles and jugs, aluminum and steel cans and dry cardboard. It’s important to avoid bagging your items, as plastic bags are harmful to equipment and bagged items are usually sent to landfills for safety reasons.
Takeout and frozen pizza boxes are recyclable, but make sure there’s no pizza left before dumping.
Electronic items such as string lights, televisions and anything else containing batteries are recyclable, but they cannot be put in mixed-use bins and should instead be taken to the city’s electronics recycling facility.
Putting batteries in mixed-use bins can lead to fires, Poe added.
Long, thin items such as hoses are not recyclable and can cause issues at recycling facilities.
What can you recycle in curbside bins in Lexington?
Items accepted by the Lexington recycling center include:
Aluminum and steel cans
Lids and canisters
No. 1 and No. 2 plastic bottles, jars and jugs (with the caps on)
Paper
Cartons (caps optional)
Glass bottles and jars
Cardboard
Paperboard
This story was reported in response to reader questions and comments from our Know Your Kentucky project. If you have a question about Kentucky, we’d like to hear from you. Fill out the form below or email ask@herald-leader.com.
