News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The uptick in trash and recycling after holiday festivities can create issues if disposed of improperly.
White County Solid Waste Director Chip Hall said in White County, the landfill is the best place to take a Christmas tree and any large decorations that you no longer want. He said wrapping paper goes with household trash, not recycling as many may think.
“You could put it in the cardboard and we could try to recycle it, the trouble is, not all wrapping paper is actually paper,” Hall said. “It’s got a silicate on the back of it. It’s not like a cardboard, like a pure paper, it’s like a plastic. You have to sort through plastics.”
Hall said failure to properly dispose of holiday garbage ends up hurting the taxpayers. Hall said when people do not sort their trash adequately at convenience stations, it requires more work for the employees at the centers, who are paid through tax dollars.
Hall said White County has 11 convenience centers and a landfill to make sorting through Christmas materials easier. He said the most important thing residents can do is carefully sort through their recycling and trash, and transport it securely.
“Garbage is garbage, and no matter what you do, we’re always going to have it,” Hall said. “If we don’t do it in the correct way, it winds up on our side roads, back in our woods, behind our homes, and nobody wants that. It’s not healthy or good for anybody. The big thing, I think, that White County provides is our convenience centers.”
Hall said the biggest issue White County has had has been people hauling their trash on trailers without tarping it, causing wrapping paper and tree debris to blow out of the vehicle onto streets. Hall said on a weekend after the holidays, you can sit and watch the trucks go by and see trash rain down out of beds and trailers.
“I wish that there was some way that we could get law enforcement to enforce tarping rules so that we don’t have trash on our roadways,” Hall said. “Most of it, or a majority of it isn’t thrown out of car windows, it comes off of trailers that aren’t tarped or out of truck beds, and you’ll see it everywhere.”
Hall said while the convenience centers are a great resource for the county, he hopes to see upgrades soon that will allow the county to turn trees into mulch and recycle more materials like wrapping paper.
“It just takes a little bit of effort from everybody to keep it where we’re efficient, we’re not wasting money, and we’re doing it like it’s supposed to be,” Hall said. “Everything’s provided for the citizens of White County to dispose of their trash, and maybe, hopefully in the future, we’ll find better ways to dispose of our trash and recycle more of it. That’s always a goal.”
