AMERICA RECYCLES DAY

East Hartford, CT— November 15 is recognized as America Recycles Day 2021, which is a national day to acknowledge the importance of recycling on the environment and on the American economy.

In 2021, America Recycles Day is especially important for the Town of East Hartford.  In our community, residential recycling blue carts often experience extreme levels of contamination. Only our residents’ awareness and change in behavior can correct this problem.

Contamination happens when residents place unacceptable items or regular trash into the blue recycling cart. Over the last year, East Hartford Public Works has found many unacceptable materials thrown into blue carts that belong in regular trash carts or must be disposed of in other special ways.

Public Works has found paint, motor oil, household chemicals, plastic bags, brush, leaves, grass, electronics, water hoses, holiday decorations, building debris and plastic toys that do not belong in blue carts!  For information about acceptable and unacceptable items please visit this page:  Recycling | East Hartford CT.

Contamination in blue carts has a serious financial impact as well. Taxpayers pay $0 per ton when recycling carts have clean and acceptable materials. However, contaminated recycling costs $115 per ton. This means resident taxes must cover penalty fees that exceed $200,000 per year.

For America Recycles Day 2021, Public Works asks residents to look into their blue cart to ensure it includes only clean and acceptable materials. Please conduct a check-up of your recycling cart by comparing it to this recycling brochure available on the Town’s webpage. Additionally, residents are encouraged to download the RecycleCT Wizard APP, available for free in App Store and Google Play, to get answers to their disposal questions. Finally, check your cart against the Public Works’ recycling checklist to make sure it is free of unacceptable items. 

Recycling efforts, when done correctly, reduce the amount of waste, conserve natural resources such as timber, water and minerals, increase economic security by tapping domestic sources of materials, prevent pollution by reducing the need to collect new raw materials, save energy and help create new well-paying jobs in the recycling and manufacturing industries in the United States.

For additional information contact Public Works at 860-291-7374.