New Recycling Program Paying Off Big

The town's new recycling program, which began in January, is paying off big--for the environment and financially.

From January through April this year, residents recycled 230 tons of trash, which comes out to more than 11 pounds per household. For the same period last year, the total was just 68 tons, just four pounds per household.

“That's a huge difference,” said Mayor Jody McLeod, “an increase of 263 percent, which is awesome! I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of the people of Clayton.”

In addition to benefiting the environment, the increase in recycling has saved the town nearly $5,000 in landfill fees so far this year-a figure that is certain to increase as the year goes on.

At the beginning of the year, the town replaced its old 18-gallon open top recycling containers with 64-gallon roll out containers with a lid. In addition, the materials list for recycling was expanded substantially. The town now accepts magazines, catalogs, phone books, cereal boxes, junk mail, office paper, plastic containers numbered 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 plus properly prepared corrugated cardboard. This is in addition to newspapers, glass containers (clear, green and brown), aluminum cans, bi-metal cans, soda bottles (PET) and milk containers (HDPE).