Passersby may have noticed an empty spot in the Alliance Plaza parking lot at West Third Street and Cody Avenue. Keep Alliance Beautiful has moved its five trailers (still at that location as of this writing but expected to happen prior to publication of this column) to the lot north of the recycling center at West Second Street and Cheyenne Avenue.
The trailers as well as containers for aluminum cans will continue to serve as convenient depositories for the public’s recyclables. There are currently no plans to relocate the trailer in Alliance between Dollar General and Pizza Hut or the trailer near Farmers Co-op in Hemingford.
KAB has the longest lasting presence of any of the current entities at the Alliance Plaza. The Keep America Beautiful affiliate parked its first trailer there and expanded in the years since. Though area residents have become accustomed to the dropoff point the move makes sense for KAB. Recycling center staff is now able to better monitor how full the trailers are and empty them more efficiently without cross-town travel.
This change is an opportunity to review KAB’s recycling options for the public. Alliance residents may take part in our curbside program for an affordable monthly fee. Anyone in the area, or willing to travel in some cases, can take their recycling to the trailers or recycling center for free.
About 75 households presently take advantage of curbside. KAB provides bags and trashcan-style bins that can be wheeled to the curb for pickup every other week. Those enrolled may also set out additional bags and materials after filling the bin. It seems online shopping has brought more cardboard. Some locations have two bins. Unlike the trailers, curbside is a single stream service. Any items accepted by KAB can be put in the container unsorted. We have a number of people who do sort their items according to kind in smaller sacks within the bag. This saves us at the recycling center considerable time sorting. Call our office at 762-1729 to sign up.
The trailers have dedicated space for nearly all the materials accepted by KAB. They are available 24 hours a day. If one of the trailers is full or gone for unloading, please check back again, use another location or visit the recycling center. The building is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are also several bins near the entrance to place bagged recyclables. At the trailers we accept: cardboard, paperboard, glass, tin and steel cans, aluminum cans, Nos. 1-7 plastic (no styrofoam), office paper, bagged shredded paper, newspapers, magazines and milk jugs.
At my house recycling is a family activity. On occasion I take the children to trailers and they have fun throwing items through the small doors.
If you have a large quantity of recyclables the center is arguably the best option. For big loads, back in and we’ll take it off your hands. Staff will also accept items not taken at the trailers, such as batteries (ends must be taped) or Hefty energy bag items, for example. Plastics without a number and shopping bags are put in the large orange bags and baled for recycling. People may bring papers for shredding or use the shredder themselves, a donation is suggested.
Most of the time materials flow into the recycling center to be prepared for shipment to their next stop in the process. However, people are welcome to stop by if they need something. We have given away boxes for moving, newspapers for crafts and even used cattle lick tubs for gardening planters.
We encourage the public to utilize our trailers at the new location. Stop by the recycling center too to say hi or if you have a question.