OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Why would a group of people be digging threw our trash at the Wapello County Landfill? The answer is easy; they want to know what’s in it.
Employees from Mid-Atlantic Solid Waste are going threw not only our trash, but the trash of several communities around Iowa. The Department of Natural Resources wants to know what is being recycled and what isn’t.
“We’re conducting what is called a waste composition study. What we are doing is taking trash that is coming in from trucks that is being collected around the city and commercial property and then sorting it into 62 categories,” said John Bowles.
Bowles is with Mid-Atlantic, and he was not afraid to get digging.
“The real goal is to find out how much recycled material is being thrown away,” said Bowles.
The Department of Natural Resources funded the project through a grant, so the city and county are not being charged at all for this information.
According to Bowles, items that couldn’t be recycled back in 2005 could be recycled today due to new technologies that have been developed since then.
So, the next time you go to throw an item in the trash, see if it is recyclable.
A full report on what is and is not being recycled is due out late this year.
For information on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, click here.
For information on the Wapello County Landfill, click here.
For information on Mid-Atlantic Solid Wastes Consultants, click here.
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