In both Logan and Moab, there is curbside recycling that will take your usual recycling, like cardboard, paper, and plastics.
Jessica Thacker who is the program manager for Moab Recycles says there are two facilities where residents can recycle things that can’t be curbside, the Community Recycle Center and the transfer station.
“The two facilities also have, like, the harder to recycle items, like we have used oil collection at the transfer station. We also have antifreeze and universe, electronic and universal waste recycling,” said Thacker.
Moab Recycles sends all their recycling except for green waste to Salt Lake City to be properly recycled and to either reuse them again or make something new out of the material.
“The only things that we really, I want to say recycle on site would be we have our green waste reclamation program, so up at the Moab landfill, if people bring in, like clean yard waste, like branches, trees, logs, that sort of thing, we have a tub grinder come in, typically once a year, and grind up all of that and we resell it to the community as unscreened mulch,” said Thacker.
In Logan, residents can put cardboard, plastic, cartons, and steel and aluminum cans in their recycling bin as long as they are small. Residents can also take other recyclable items to Logan’s transfer station and place them in their recycling bins.
“Just at our transfer station, we have some recycle bins for large cardboard and bins for mixed recycle because there are some complexes that don't have mixed recycle, so we leave the option open for them," said Emily Malik, the Logan City Sustainability Programs Coordinator. "We do have a big metal recycling bin. So if you have appliances, anything that's kind of a large metal item, we can take that down here for no charge."
In Salt Lake City, residents can also recycle aluminum and tin cans, but if residents want to recycle anything other than those items, they have to go to a facility that can take up waste such as cans, bio waste, and even electronics.
Katsi Pena is the waste and recycling education lead with Salt Lake City Department of Sustainability, which has local and private recycling companies in the community.
“We have a local glass recycling company. We also have a local composting facility, and we also have a local anaerobic digester, which is called Wasatch Recovery,” said Pena.
Salt Lake City also has a glass recycling company called Momentum, which breaks down glass into many parts for other materials used in the state..
“So for example, glass can be broken down into fiberglass insulation. It gets turned into other construction and development material that gets used for local construction development product projects across Utah, which is really cool that we what you're putting in your bin is going back into, you know, maybe an apartment that you're seeing downtown that's being developed," Pena said.
The city also has a team that helps educate residents about recycling.
“We're very lucky that we have an entire team of education outreach specialists that go out every single day in just waste and recycling. We have a team of eight education in our education team, and we have a team of five specialists that go out every single day checking these recycling and compost cans for contamination and helping educate the public about what does and doesn't go in those recycling and compost bins. Last year, they checked over half a million cans,” said Pena.
Pena says recycling is the most important thing that any resident can do.
“Recycling is real. Recycling is important, and recycling is happening here in Utah, and it's happening at such a large scale level, and we're so lucky to have private and public partnerships that support these investments in recycling and sustainability."
