One bale. OK, one heavy cardboard bale’s worth of weight would account for the difference in recycling volumes at Keep Alliance Beautiful during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period the previous year. We processed 215,129 pounds at the recycling center this past April-June compared to 214,121 pounds last spring. The overall numbers, as usual, do not reveal the tales of how the years differ.
Long- and short-term trends in local and national recycling appear in the quarterly numbers logged at KAB, such as the decrease in newsprint over the past three decades or the increase in Hefty energy bag plastics since we joined the program. This summer, I anticipated that the latest total would be closer to a quarter-million pounds as we began to serve Chadron. Helping a neighboring community restart comprehensive recycling did not pop out from the figures though I am reassured that what we do at KAB should not be relegated to how often a loaded trailer leaves the center.
Keep Alliance Beautiful has been receiving regular (usually weekly) loads of cardboard from Keep Chadron Beautiful as well as filling our green trailer during community collection events in May and June. Our 2023 cardboard totals increased markedly between the first and second quarters, 104,750 to 127,525 pounds. That 11 ½ tons is comparable to the volumes in 2022, when the difference was even greater at just over 13 tons (84,500 pounds in the first quarter and 110,875 in the second). The overall tonnage is up looking at the same quarter, yet the data from 2022 suggests there will be a busy third quarter then a lighter fourth quarter.
Really, I will wait to consider how Chadron fits into our overall operation (numberswise). As a new spoke served by our hub, we are able to track their loads, just as we log what comes from Box Butte General Hospital on a weekly basis.
Beyond cardboard, 2023 totals for materials shipped in the second quarter are (in pounds): #1-7 plastics – 14,750, steel/tin cans – 9,918, aluminum cans – 3,456, fiber board 5,800, magazines/books – 7,559, mixed paper 27,056, ink cartridges – 410, electronics – 3,805, glass – 14,705, Hefty bags – 3,787, paint – 2,237, and other – 1,482.
Chandra at the KAB office further broke the above totals out by the load, as materials headed to Kimball and Ogallala. Dixie, one of my co-workers at the center, has been striving to enhance our day-to-day operations by helping us all keep better records. Whenever we pick up loads at businesses and locations there is an entry, which helps the two shifts coordinate. We tally the number of people who drop something off or visit the center. Recyclers coming from outside Box Butte County are asked to sign in and log time spent on the road. Other entries track bales (there were four cardboard and one plastic last Wednesday), boxes processed, et cetera. Dixie has been an awesome influence! As the weeks go by an account will emerge on paper and, ideally, foster better organization and efficiency while chronicalling each day’s work.
Anyone interested can consider the volume reports from KAB. Wondering where it all goes? That information is available too. I like to hear where it comes from. People arrive at the south door on a routine run or loaded to the brim from a current project or hand off a bag or two. How we fit into their day is the fun part during brief conversations with arms loaded. A few more months and dozens of visitors later the time will surely be worth the weight.