Added on February 2, 2015 Sara Swanson

Trash in the Recycling Bins: Manchester Identified as “One of Worst Offenders” by WWRA

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Recycling in Manchester Township’s drop-off bin located next to Manchester Market’s parking lot.

At the most recent Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority (WWRA) meeting, the on-going problem of trash being dumped in the recycling bins was discussed. Manchester Township treasurer Laurie Carey has been attending the meetings as a representative for the township. Carey stated, “It was brought up at the last meeting that the Manchester bins were usually one of the worst offenders. People are dumping furniture, pool covers and other non recyclable items at great cost to the WWRA who then needs to pay to take these things to the dump.”

WWRA provides curbside recycling in the City of Chelsea and easily accessed centrally located bins in the Townships of Dexter, Lyndon, Manchester and Lima. Manchester’s bins are located next to the Manchester Market parking lot on Main Street.

What is recyclable is clearly posted next to the bins, although confusion may arise from the fact that Manchester Village has curbside recycling provided by another company, Stevens Disposal & Recycling Services of Temperance, MI. There is much overlap in what the two companies accept, however, there are minor differences which could lead to mistakes among Village residents who use both curbside recycling and the drop-off bins. For instance, you can recycle plastic bags curbside but not in the drop-off bins. (Neither accepts pool covers.) For a list of what you can and can’t drop-off in the WWRA bins click HERE (also listed below). For a list of what Village residents can and can’t put in their curbside bins click HERE. If you have questions about what WWRA will accept or other aspects of their program call 475-6160.

In addition to being costly and time consuming for WWRA to dispose of, putting non-recyclable items in the bins is actually considered illegal dumping and can lead to a $1,000 fine. Here a list of what they accept and what they don’t accept in the drop-off bins:

Acceptable:

newspaper and junk mail mix (glossy inserts are OK)
magazines, catalogues, paperback and phone books
white office paper
cardboard, cereal boxes, and paper bags
– flatten corrugated cardboard boxes and boxboard, such as cereal boxes
plastic bottles & containers (no 1 through no 7 – for example, milk jugs and detergent bottles, cottage cheese, yogurt, etc.)
– remove caps and lids, rinse well and flatten, labels may be left on
rigid plastics such as plastic buckets, soda crates, plastic pallets, coolers, drums, toys and playhouses,
plastic flower pots, laundry baskets, empty garbage cans, plastic pet containers.
glass bottles and jars (clear, green, and brown only, NO blue glass)
– remove caps and rinse well, steel caps may be recycled with cans
tin and aluminum cans and lids – remove labels, rinse well, flatten if possible
empty aerosol cans
small metals and aluminum
car and truck Batteries (NO household batteries)
Used Motor oils (at the Werkner Rd. site ONLY, not at bin site)

Not Acceptable:

No plastic bags
No bubble wrap
No propane tanks of any kind
No household batteries
No motor oil containers
No antifreeze
No plates, china, ceramics, mirrors, window glass, or light bulbs
No tires
No paints
No styrofoam of any kind
No computers, monitors, keyboards or printers
No visqueen
No pool covers
No plastic tarps
No furniture

The Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority (WWRA), is a non-profit recycling program. It is subsidized by a group of five local communities that work cooperatively to provide residential recycling programs in the Townships of Dexter, Lyndon, Manchester and Lima, and the the City of Chelsea. The townships are served by easily accessed drop-off centers while the City of Chelsea has weekly Curbside Recycling pick up. It was formed in 1991 with a State Grant that helped finance the construction of the 4200 square foot facility located at 8025 Werkner Road in Chelsea a location it shares with the City of Chelsea Solid Waste Department.