Recycling

Alliance Recycles is now providing recycling opportunities for residents through a drop-off program at six collection sites located throughout the county. For further information about recycling please call, 970-688-0883

Site locations

Vail – West of the Community Development Building at 75 South Frontage Road
Red Cliff – Red Cliff Community Center, 400 Pine Street
Avon – Between the Town of Avon and Wal-Mart on East Beaver Creek Boulevard just west of the main roundabout
Edwards – Edwards Rest Area near the I-70 exit
Eagle – Fairgrounds parking lot off of Fairgrounds Road
Gypsum – Northwest corner of Columbine Market parking lot

Material collected through this program is at the mercy of the recycling markets and does not include every type of commodity marked with the recycling symbol and number.

There are two different-sized containers at each drop-off site. The larger containers are for commingled material (aluminum cans, steel/tin cans, glass, and #1 and #2 plastics) and newspaper (one container for each). The smaller container is for corrugated cardboard. At the Vail site the larger containers have two compartments. One container has a compartment for newspapers and another for co-mingled materials. The other container has a compartment for office paper and another for magazines.

Recyclable materials  

• Glass beverage containers -- all colors
• Cans -- aluminum, steel and tin cans
• Plastic containers -- rinsed and empty
• Cardboard -- corrugated 
• Office paper (Vail & Avon sites )
• Magazines (Vail site only )

Plastic containers must be either #1 PET or #2 HDPE (look on the bottom of the container at the # inside the triangle). Labels on containers are accepted.  Corrugated cardboard means clean, flattened corrugated cardboard boxes (corrugated means it has an undulation layer between two flat layers).  Staples and labels are accepted.

Materials not accepted

• Window glass, Pyrex, ceramics, porcelain, drinking glasses, crystal, light bulbs
  or any glass that is not a bottle or jar
• Plastic bags, plastic toys, six-pack holders, any plastic container that is not #1 PET or #2 HDPE
• Motor oil or gasoline containers
• Lids or caps
• Food scraps or trash
• Paperboard such as cereal boxes or beer cartons
• Egg cartons
• Waxy cardboard
• Milk cartons
• Any Styrofoam, plastic or wood packing material
• Cardboard contaminated by food or grease

Where Recyclables Go

Many people who participate in the drop-off recycling program may wonder from time-to-time about what really happens to the stuff they put into the collection containers.

#1 and #2 plastic.  Most everyone has seen the little numbers in the triangle on the bottom or sides of plastic containers.  Generally these numbers run from 1 through 7.  The numbers indicate the type of plastic the container is made of.  Even though most of this plastic can be recycled, there are not enough containers and markets for the numbers 3 through 7.  We focus on #1 and #2 because this material is easily recycled and markets for it are readily available.

Once this plastic reaches Grand Junction it is sorted by number.  There are two types of #2 plastic with milk jugs being a predominant component; so the milk jugs are separated from the other #2’s.  Once sorted the plastic is baled and shipped by truck to a couple of different locations:  #1’s to Wellman Plastics in Johnsonville, South Carolina and both #2s’ to KW Plastics in Troy, Alabama.  From this plastic various recycled products are made including plastic film, carpet, etc.

Steel & aluminum cans.  After reaching the processing facility in Grand Junction the two types of cans are separated by a magnetic separator.  The steel cans are shipped to AMG in Gary, Indiana where they are reprocessed into various steel products.  The aluminum cans are shipped to Anheuser Busch in Berea, Kentucky where they are remanufactured into various aluminum cans…not just beer cans!

Glass.  Even though all colors of glass are collected in our program it’s always been difficult to recycle colors other than brown.  That’s because about the only nearby market for glass is Coor’s Brewery in Golden, Colorado and they specify primarily brown glass.  The glass we collect is separated by color with the brown going to Coor’s and the other colors being used as alternative daily cover in a landfill in Montrose.  The economics of recycling glass are not particularly favorable and until other markets open up it will continue to be a challenge.

Cardboard. A lot of cardboard is collected at our recycling sites. It is picked up locally by an overhead trash truck. Just because it’s a trash truck doesn’t mean it’s going to the landfill. This is just a convenient way to collect it. It is hauled to Summit County, baled and shipped by rail or truck to various locations. Some of it goes to the Pacific Northwest to Georgia-Pacific and some goes to McKinley Fiber in Prewitt, New Mexico. In both cases, the recycled cardboard is remanufactured into new cardboard.

Newspaper/magazines & office paper.  The end use of these paper products depends upon where it goes and the type of material.  Some of the newspaper & magazines go to Ready Therm in Salt Lake City, Utah where it is processed into insulation.  Some goes to Abitibi in Snowflake, Arizona where it is re-pulped and made into recycled newsprint.  Office paper primarily goes to Kimberly Clark plants in Mexico where it is reprocessed into new paper products including tissues, paper towels and toilet paper.

Remember that markets are constantly changing and it does take end markets for recycling to work.  Recycling is not free, but we think it’s safe to say that things are getting better.  Thanks for participating!