County hosts recycling meeting
<p>Dusti Johnson from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality shows a piece of fractured glass. </p>
THOMPSON FALLS – In an effort to increase recycling efforts throughout the county, a recycling meeting was held at the Sanders County Courthouse on Tuesday, April 8.
The meeting delved into the different possibilities the county has when dealing with recyclables and also answered questions of those in attendance.
The turn out was sparse, but Dusti Johnson from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality said that was typical for the first meeting. She stated that the more the word gets out, the bigger the crowd will get.
Johnson has helped multiple towns run successful recycling programs, each different in their own way.
She stated that right now the market for paper is $140 per ton - a good number to make a profit.
“Maybe we should invest our money into collecting paper a hundred percent out of the waste stream,” Johnson said.
After a quick breakdown of how both glass and plastics were recycled, she continued on to state that her recycling efforts are going to involve the school and it would be good for the community to host a collection for electronics.
After talking to Thompson Falls Superintendent Jason Slater, Johnson realized there was a need for recycling computers. If the community was to get involved in the effort as well, Johnson said it could turn into a great thing.
“What I like to do with our small, rural communities is to do a quarterly collection,” Johnson said.
If an event like this were to happen in Sanders County, residents would be able to bring their old stereos, televisions and other electronics to recycle them.
If more recycling was generated in the area, it would help ensure the recycling cost would stay stable and if more money was generated, a small rewards program could be started for the residents.
“Some people want to see something for themselves when they are asked to do something and so Dusti was saying if we could generate more recycling in Sanders County…(we could) reward the community somehow in little ways,” said Solid Waste Billing Clerk Kathy Conlin.
Another topic discussed was to divert items like clothing and building supplies away from the dump and into a small storefront where a restore/reuse store could be formed.
The crowd favored the electronic round up and Sanders County Commissioner Carol Brooker said that should be the county’s first goal.
Conlin seemed to agree.
“We’ll be following up on all the concerns voiced here so we can get those electronics,” Conlin said.