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Residents attain recycling record
By D.A. WILKINSON
LISBON
Columbiana County residents recycled a record 500,000 pounds of materials in March.
But there are some people who still don’t understand the program, according to Dr. Eric Matthews, the education coordinator for the Carroll-Columbiana-Harrison Solid Waste Management District‚é.
He said Wednesday he’s not sure if the growth last month came from more interest in recycling. It might have come from a backlog of recyclables that piled up during the heavy snows and cold in February.
The program’s newest recycling site in the county is JDS Landscaping, 46486 state Route 14, Columbiana.
Matthews teaches politics at Mount Union College in Alliance but lives in Salem near its recycling area beside the city’s fire department.
May people use the recycling program properly, but some do not, he said.
In East Liverpool, he said, people leave old appliances as well as couches and other furniture, which the district doesn’t take.
People also will drop off broken plastic parts from car parts and dashboards, which also are not allowed.
Medical wastes are not supposed to go into the recycling bins. But in East Liverpool, he said he found, “five bags full of hypodermic needles.”
Matthews said he has also found confidential medical-patient records in the recycling bins.
At the Salem site, many people drop off their garbage, which is not accepted.
“That can be punished by a $250 fine,” he said.
He’s also found both dead and live animals left at the sites.