The Southeastern Indiana Solid Waste District, in cooperation with Switzerland and Ohio county officials, have officially opened a recycling center at the former Plastic Moldings factory in East Enterprise.
The official ribbon cutting was Friday afternoon, and the center began accepting recyclables on Saturday.
Tom Perotti of the Southeastern Indiana Solid Waste District said that Saturday’s opening comes approximately six years after the two counties began discussing the possibility of having a joint recycling facility to serve the residents of both counties.
“Initially this most recent effort was through Historic Hoosier Hills and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts,” Tom Perotti said. “They served as a formation committee that helped us get it going.”
The recycling center is open on Wednesday evenings from 3-7 p.m. (slow time); and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. (slow time). It is available to all residents of Switzerland County, including Vevay residents who are already involved in a recycling program.
Tom Perotti said that the center will accept normal household recyclables: #1 and #2 plastics; green, brown, and clear glass jars (no window glass); steel and aluminum cans and scrap metal; cardboard, magazines, newspapers, and clothing.
The recycling center will also accept what Tom Perotti calls “problem waste”: old tires, refrigerated appliances, batteries, and computers and other electronics, to name a few. He noted that there is a fee for the disposal of tires and refrigerated appliances, but it does give residents a safe option for disposing of them.
Vevay residents can bring items that are not accepted as part of the town’s recycling program.
There is also an area at the center known as the “Reuse It Section”.
Tom Perotti said that if people bring items to the recycling center that still work, such as appliances or computers, or items that still have value, like books or non-upholstered furniture; those items will be set aside for people to take if they have need of them. It turns into “direct recycling.”
Right now we’re building up the number of items that are in that section,” Tom Perotti said. “There’s already some computers out there that people said still work. We hope that there will be other things come in that work but that people just don’t want anymore that others can make use of.”
As part of the grand opening, the Switzerland County Commissioners placed a series of dumpsters at the site for county residents to use to dispose of things that aren’t recyclable.
County Highway superintendent Edd Cook said that there is still room in seven of the dumpsters, so county residents are urged to take advantage of the good weather and clean up their property.