Celebrate Global Recycling Day on March 18 by giving some household items a second life.
Two of the most important things to know about recycling is that Hoosiers can do it right here in Indianapolis and it is free. Marion County residents can take advantage of the free recycling services though schools and workplaces in addition to curbside pickup and drop-off locations around the city, said Lindsay Trameri, community engagement leader for Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability.
“Everyone can get better at it, whether you’ve been doing it for a day or you’ve been doing it for years,” Trameri said.
The Office of Sustainability was introduced under the Department of Public Works in 2008, and although they are a small team, Trameri said they are working to address sustainability and environmental concerns, including making Indianapolis carbon neutral by 2050 through the Thrive Indianapolis initiative passed in 2019. Another initiative includes encouraging Marion County residents to recycle by offering both curbside subscription services and approximately 14 drop-off locations around the city.
Recycling can easily become a habit anyone can build with practice. Learning how and what to recycle might not be perfect right away, Trameri said, because recycling guidelines vary depending on where someone lives within Marion County and which services they use.
“It’s part of a solution to environmental change that’s happening everywhere,” Trameri said. “I think reduce is more important than recycle, but recycling is still important, and if you recycle correctly, those products really do have a second life and a better second life than they would if you just throw them in the regular garbage.”
The City of Indianapolis’ guidelines for recycling include all colors of glass, plastic bottles and jugs, plastic number 1 (PETE) and plastic number 2 (HDPE), cardboard, newspapers, paper bags, aluminum and tin cans, and any metals. These items can be recycled at one of the 14 drop off locations or set out in bins for residential pick up, Trameri said.
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For more specialized products, such as electronics and Styrofoam, Marion County residents can look to RecycleForce, a nonprofit recycling company and workforce development program. Dumping electronics in the trash or landfills is illegal in Indiana; however, RecycleForce features free drop-off and recycling, data destruction for E-Waste — or old or broken electronics and appliances, such as coffee makers, curling irons, laptops, humidifiers and Christmas lights — for all Marion County residents, Crista Carlino, director of development for RecycleForce, said.
“We are an end-of-life facility, so we are not plugging in and reusing these electronics; we are completely destroying them and separating the components out,” Carlino said. “We recycle about 97% of what we bring in, and most of that stays within Indiana’s circular economy.”
Environmental issues and recycling have an impact on the health of the community, Carlino said. The environment is a social justice issue, and RecycleForce is “committed to innovative practices.” To be good at recycling, there needs to be people doing the work and a highly trained workforce ready to handle those materials, Carlino said.
RecycleForce is largely known as a service organization that trains and employs those who were previously incarcerated or involved in the criminal justice system. The proceeds from recycling go toward paying participants to go through the program and earn industry recognized credentials, Carlino said.
“Our model is ABC: ‘any job, better job, career.’” Carlino said. “When you come to us, your any job is recycling Indiana’s electronics here on our floor, taking those credentials and getting better jobs off site, and eventually careers across the city and state where many of our former program participants are now gainfully employed, making livable wages with full benefits and are even union members.”
In addition to Styrofoam and E-Waste, RecycleForce also accepts cardboard, plastic, metals and just about anything with a cord or battery, Carlino said. They also provide a free residential car seat recycling service and accept expired car seats at drop-off.
It is important to remember the difference between recycling material and toxic, hazardous waste, Carlino said. Although RecycleForce supports the City of Indianapolis’ weekly Saturday “Tox Drops,” those kinds of materials cannot be accepted at RecycleForce.
The Office of Sustainability cannot accept items packaged in thin, plastic grocery bags because they are hazardous for sorting machines. These types of bags are accepted at RecycleForce, but items for drop off should be sorted and cleaned ahead of time, Carlino said.
The Office of Sustainability is also working toward the goal of universal curbside recycling for residential households by 2026, Trameri said. It would switch residents from a subscription-based model to a model where they receive a recycling bin in addition to a trash bin to place out for collection.
RecycleForce, which was named 2022 “Global Recycling Heroes” by the Global Recycling Foundation, will celebrate Earth Day in April alongside Second Chance Month at their new facility in Sherman, which will also host a ribbon cutting on June 19, 2024.
For more information about The Office of Sustainability or RecycleForce, visit indy.gov/recycle and recycleforce.org. To inquire about private partnerships or corporate recycling, contact info@recycleforce.org.
Contact staff writer Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on Twitter @chloe_mcgowanxx.
