The City of Fort Collins’ new recycling center is now offering bins that combine mixed paper and newsprint and adding used cooking oil to the hard-to-recycle yard.
On the “free, everyday recyclables” side of the facility, newspaper will now be collected with mixed-paper, reducing two bins to one. For 10 years, avid recyclers were encouraged to source-separate newsprint, which was sent to specialized processing plants. Gradual reductions in demand for newsprint have changed global market conditions for the paper-recycling industry, which now blends more types of fiber.
The City also continues to work to add more items in the “hard-to-recycle materials yard” on the west side of the Timberline Recycling Center, which charges a $5 entrance fee. The newest addition is cooking oil. The public may now bring in used cooking oil for recycling, which will be collected in 55-gallon barrels by a private vendor, ClearEcos, and turned into bio-diesel.
Other hard-to-recycle materials that are accepted at the TRC include paint (no charge for bringing paint only), used motor oil, antifreeze, batteries, scrap metal, electronic waste, concrete, and organic debris. The hard-to-recycle area is staffed by site attendants and is open Tuesday- Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (the area will stay open until 6 p.m. in the summer).
Later this year, the City plans to add a pilot project to accept plastic film materials such as single-use shopping bags. For regular updates and messages about the Timberline Recycling Center, visit the Frequently Asked Questions page on the City’s website at http://www.fcgov.com/recycling/dropoff.php