Over 1 Million Pounds Recycled by City of Dalton Curbside Recycling Program

DALTON, GA -  Residents participating in the City of Dalton Curbside Recycling program collected over 1 million pounds of recyclables during the first six months of the year.  This is an 18.9% increase compared to the same time last year.  Recycling takes a product at the end of its useful life and uses all or part of it to make another product instead of more garbage.  Five plastic #1 (PET) bottles, such as water and soda bottles, yield enough fiber to make one extra large T-shirt, one square foot of carpet, or enough fiber to fill one ski jacket.

550.1 tons or 1,100,200 pounds of recyclables were collected during the months of January to June 2010 according to the City of Dalton Curbside Recycling Report produced by the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Authority’s Materials Recovery Facility or Recycling Center.  1,100,200 pounds are the equivalent of a stack of newspapers 5.95 miles long.  The goal for this year is 1,200 tons or 2,400,000 pounds. Products collected for recycling include paper, magazines, newspaper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs with the #1 or #2 recycling symbol, aluminum cans, bi-metal or tin cans, and glass bottles and jars that are clear, brown, green or blue.

Residents of the City of Dalton in single-family homes qualify for Curbside Recycling service.  Recyclables are collected in blue 18-gallon recycling bins and picked up weekly on the same day as household garbage.  For a more information visit the City of Dalton’s website, www.cityofdalton-ga.gov, click ‘Departments’ then ‘Public Works’.  If you need a Recycling Bin or a Recycling Bin Instructions Sticker, call the Public Works Department at 706-278-7077.

Residents of Whitfield County living outside of the City of Dalton also have opportunities to recycle.  All four Convenience Centers managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority have Recycling Drop-off Areas that collect the same products as the Curbside Recycling program.  For locations, hours and directions visit www.dwswa.org.  For more information about recycling contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, at 706-278-5001.

Dalton Exceeds 1,000 Tons In Recyclables

Posted by The Chattanoogan.com on March 2, 2010 in the Happenings section.  Submitted by the DWSWA.

City of Dalton residents collected 1,010.9 tons or 2,021,800 pounds of recyclables in 2009, exceeding the 1,000 tons goal set for the city of Dalton Curbside Recycling program in the fall of 2008. The 2,021,800 pounds of recyclables are the equivalent of a stack of newspapers 11 miles high.

The Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority staff, Norman Barashick, executive director; Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program coordinator; and mascot Recycling Ben recognized residents during the Monday City Council Meeting at City Hall.  

Mayor Pennington and Councilwoman Wood accepted the award on behalf of the residents. Public Works Director Benny Dunn accepted the award on behalf of the Public Works Department. The drivers of the curbside recycling trucks, Dwayne Carvelle, Glen Gambrell and Derek Bagley, were also recognized for being the ones that get the job done on a daily basis. It’s estimated that together they handle more than 4,000 recycling bins per week. 

This is the first time in the last five years that Dalton has exceeded the city of Rome, which has a similar population, in the collection of curbside recycling. Curbside recycling in Dalton serves 7,500 households with a participation rate of 37.4%, an increase from 30% in 2008. In 2009 Public Works distributed an additional 705 blue bins in the community. In addition the city improved its bottom line by more $32,000 from avoided landfill disposal fees and revenue sharing. 

The city of Dalton’s Curbside Recycling program began in 1991. 2009 marked 18 years of environmental stewardship through recycling. Today, the city of Dalton provides one of the few curbside recycling programs in Northwest Georgia. 

In 2003 the Curbside Recycling program began delivering its recyclable materials for processing to the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. The Authority operates a Materials Recovery Facility or recycling center at the Old Dixie Landfill which sorts, processes, and markets the materials. Since that time, the amount of recyclables collected by residents has almost doubled. 

Recycling reduces waste and pollution, saves energy, protects natural resources and environment, and is good for the economy, officials said. Many companies in Georgia, including local carpet manufacturers, rely on recycling programs to provide the raw materials they need to make new products. 

To receive another bin call the Public Works Department at 706 278-7077. If residents have more than one bin, they should put the fiber materials, such as paper, cardboard, and newspaper, in one bin and everything else in the other. 

For more information about recycling, contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education program coordinator, at 706 278-5001 or e-mail: lswafford@dwswa.org.

Dalton Beats Recycling Record

Posted on WDNN TV online on March 2, 2010.  (www.WDNNTV.com)

In 2009, Dalton collected 1011 tons of recyclables-- exceed their goal by 11 tons! On Monday night, the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority awarded the City of Dalton and the Public Works Department for all their hard work. 

Their goal for 2010 is to collect 1200 tons of recyclables!  Click here to see related video.

Resolution to Go Green

Published in the issue's Go Green page. ChamberLink January 2010.

You have decided to go green this year and made a New Year’s resolution filled with good intentions.   To make your green resolution a reality, here’s a short guide to help you get started.

Choose to Reuse:

We live in a society that encourages disposal, everything from baby diapers to Styrofoam coffee cups are thrown away after just one use.

Unfortunately Styrofoam is very difficult to recycle.  If you use a Styrofoam coffee cup every day at the office, in just one year you use and throw away 260 cups or more.  If you want to go green and reduce the amount of trash you produce during the year, you can switch to a coffee mug.   You will need only one for the whole year.   Reusing something so simple can cause a large impact over time.

Choose to Recycle at Home and Work:

Recycling is environmentally friendly because it allows for a more efficient and wise use of natural resources.  Instead of cutting down trees to make new paper, old paper is collected and recycled to create more paper.   The majority of products you encounter every day are recyclable.  Plastic, cardboard, paper, glass, and aluminum can all be recycled in the Dalton-Whitfield area.   To begin you will need a separate container for recyclables, such as a recycling bin or a clearly marked trash can.

Many residents of the City of Dalton already have a blue curbside recycling bin that is used for all recyclables.  These are separated at the curb when they are picked up by Public Works.  If you live in the City of Dalton, the Department of Public Works may already be offering Residential Curbside Recycling in your neighborhood.  For more details, call 706-278-7077 or visit the City of Dalton’s website and go to the Public Works section http://www.cityofdalton-ga.gov.

However, if you don’t have service in your area you need to separate your recyclables yourself before dropping them off at a Convenience Center like the Old Dixie Landfill.   The main categories are Plastic (#1, #2), Cardboard, Mixed Paper, Glass, and Aluminum.  You can drop-off your recyclables at any one of four Convenience Centers operated by the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Authority (DWSWA).

If you have a business in the City of Dalton or Whitfield County you may qualify for the Target Recycling program offered by the DWSWA.  This program can help your business recycle paper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum products by setting up a collection site for your whole building.  For more information on the Convenience Centers or the Target Recycling program call 706-278-5001 or visit their website http://www.dwswa.org.

It’s easier than ever to go green in Dalton-Whitfield.  Here’s to a greener you and greener New Year!

Liz Swafford is the Executive Director of Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful and the Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Authority (www.DWSWA.org).  Contact her by e-mail at: lswafford@dwswa.org or call 706-278-5001.

Goal nearing, city recycling officials say

 Submitted by the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority

The Daily Citizen

City of Dalton officials recently announced that the city is very close to reaching the goal of 1,000 tons of curbside recycling collected from residents in 2009.

The program — offered as a service to residents — collects paper, newspapers, magazines, cardboard, plastic bottles, aluminum cans and other recyclable materials using blue recycling bins.

The bins are placed at the curb alongside residential garbage cans for weekly pickup by the city’s public works department.

At the end of November, residents had contributed to the collection of 904 tons of recyclables for the year.

“The city of Dalton is very close to reaching the 1,000 ton goal,” said Michael Foxx, assistant operations manager for the materials recovery facility at the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority. “The holidays are a busy time of year for everyone but also a time when we produce more trash than average. I want to encourage residents to continue with their curbside recycling. December is the perfect month to reach 1,000 tons.”

“As of Friday, Dec. 11, we had collected 52 tons of the remaining 96 tons needed to meet our goal,” added Benny Dunn, public works director for the city.

To learn about the curbside collection options for your neighborhood, call the public works at (706) 278-7077 or visit the city of Dalton Web site at www.cityofdalton-ga.gov. To learn more about recycling in Dalton-Whitfield County, call the materials recovery facility at (706) 278-5001 or visit www.dwswa.org.