Attendees
Dave Rico, Nolan Larson, Steve North, Holiday Van Sciver, Maria Donaghy, Margaret White, Phil Hayes, Mary Rains-Montano, Terry Hill, Joel Johnston, Don Cosgrove, Byron James
Minutes
Christmas Tree Recycling:
The city of Show Low’s first annual Christmas tree recycling project netted 200 – 300 trees. The trees were chipped and used as fuel at the Snowflake White Mountain Power biomass power plant. The city would like to expand this program in December 2010, involve other nearby communities and establish several additional drop-off locations.
Larson Waste offered a free Christmas tree recycling opportunity in the Snowflake/Taylor area. Trees were delivered to Winner’s Circle Soil Products, Inc. for the production of compost and mulch.
The White Mountain Apache Tribe collected trees as well.
Pinetop-Lakeside’s Meadow Recreation Center off Woodland Road is another location to take Christmas Trees, where they are made into wood chips.
Navajo County has a wood grinder which might also be useful for tree collection programs.
Report from Publicity Subcommittee:
Some short articles were prepared for the White Mountain independent on the subjects of packaging, Christmas tree and electronics recycling opportunities.
A blog/Web site for the Recycling Committee was established: http://nearizonarecyclingcommittee.blogspot.com. Steve North encouraged committee members and other interested persons to subscribe to this blog as “followers”. Also, the city of Show Low now has a recycling Web page:
http://www.showlowaz.gov/departments/zoning/Recycling/recycle.htm.
Report on Waste Management Recycling Activities:
Dave Rico handed out a Waste Management (WM) brochure on special recycling options, including compact fluorescent bulbs, toner and ink cartridges, mercury from medical and dental devices, batteries, medical sharps, etc.
WM has installed a baler at the Lone Pine Transfer Station recycling collection site. The machine produces 1500 lb bales of commodities. The facility is set up to collect cardboard, tin, aluminum, plastics (#’s 1, 2 and 3) and mixed paper. The cardboard is delivered to Pinetop-Lakeside Sanitary District for the production of compost. The facility can now take a much greater volume of recyclable materials, and education and outreach are needed so this opportunity will be more fully utilized.
WM will alter the stickers on the bins to clarify that all types of paper and cardboard are accepted.
#5 Plastics are a big issue. Dave Rico will check on opportunities to collect these materials at the Lone Pine collection site.
Election of Committee Chair and Vice Chair:
Maria Donaghy was appointed to serve as Committee Chairperson and Margaret White was appointed to the office of Vice Chair.
Open Discussion:
The city of Holbrook’s recycling program is doing well, as the market has been improving. Earlier this month, the city shipped 4 loads of white goods, 2 loads of cardboard and a load of plastic.
The town of Pinetop-Lakeside will soon re-establish recycling drop-off locations.
There were several questions and comments about proper disposal of unneeded prescription drugs. Nolan Larson offered to check with the Summit Healthcare Regional Medical Center for information on possible collection opportunities. Also, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has prepared a brochure (Link: Drug Disposal brochure 09) on this topic. It was stressed that prescription drugs shouldn’t be flushed, as they could pollute the state’s waters.
Northland Pioneer College is sponsoring a Solar Cooking and Sustainability Workshop, which will include recycling, on April 16 and 17, at NPC’s Snowflake/Taylor Silver Creek Campus.
A St. Johns Boy Scout troop is planning a household hazardous waste collection event in St. Johns this spring. More information will soon be available.
It was reported that Wal-Mart may now take foam packaging products for recycling.
Participants expressed that recycling coordination in Navajo and Apache counties is starting to improve.
The construction waste stream needs attention.
The White Mountain Apache Tribe crushes concrete for reuse as a fill material.
Local governments may be willing to purchase crushed glass for various public works programs, provided the material edges are smooth like sand. A glass crusher is most useful, but there may be uses for glass crushed in a rock crusher. Research for uses of crushed glass is needed.
The White Mountain Green Team is planning Earth Day activities.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 14, at noon, at Show Low City Hall. Generally, meetings will be held on the second Wednesday of every-other-month.
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