2009

Recycle Depot Annual Report

Marshall County Solid Waste

1900 Walter Glaub Drive
Plymouth, IN 46563
(574) 935-8618
WWW.RECYCLEDEPOT.INFO
 Our Mission
To achieve conservation of natural resources,
environmental preservation, encourage recycling
efforts, provide opportunities and guidance for waste
stream reduction, and increase awareness of proper
hazardous waste disposal.

Marshall County Solid Waste Board

Board members are comprised of seven local elected
officials who serve without additional compensation.
They provide oversight and advice on funding,
programs, and policy. The Board meets on the first
Monday of each month at 11:15am at the Recycle
Depot. 2009 Board members include:

Chairman: Mayor Mark Senter

Co-Chairman: Charles Ripley
Ralph Booker
Tom Chamberlin
Kevin Overmyer
Jack Roose
Chad Baker / Duwaine Elliot

Citizen’s Advisory Committee

Members of the CAC serve multi-year terms and are volunteers who provide guidance and support for District efforts.
The committee meets every other month where it receives briefings and discusses issues and ways to better enable the
District to fulfill its mission. 2009 C.A.C. members include:

Chairman: Dr. Bill Garl Terry Nash

Vice Chairman: Bill Satorius Herm Rettinger
Sylvia Bieghler Bob Stone
Keith Hammonds Steve Weaver

Marshall County Solid Waste Staff

The Solid Waste District employs 3 full time staff. Personnel involved with the handling of hazardous materials are
required to pass a 40 hour HAZWOPER course, DOT hazard and transportation coursework, blood born pathogen training,
and other regularly scheduled training requirements. In addition, our Hazardous Materials Specialist is also EPA certified
to recover Freon and other refrigeration gases. All personnel have a minimum of 24 hours of hazardous materials
training. Staff members include:

Mike Good – Executive Director

Bev McDonald – Education Coordinator / Administrative Assistant
Tim Eads – Hazardous Materials Specialist / Recycling Coordinator

Financial Information
The Marshall County Solid Waste District and its facility (the Recycle Depot) are funded through a combination of a
property tax, some modest disposal fees, the sale of recycling commodities, and grants (when available). CAGIT funds
were formerly used to help reduce the taxes; however the county’s fiscal body has elected to divert those funds for other
needs. Additionally, the State of Indiana has indefinitely suspended its recycling grants program. In 2009, the District’s
tax rate was $0.0101 with a corresponding levy of $243,365. The Director has also investigated other alternative forms of
funding.

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Recycle Depot Activity Summary
The Marshall County Solid Waste District hours of operation are, Monday through Friday from 7:30 am until 4:00 pm.
The Recycle Depot hours of operation are:

Monday: by appointment
Tuesday – Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Depot is also open the first Saturday of each month from 8:00 a.m. until noon.

In 2009 the Depot served:

 7,309 residents
 948 businesses
 110 municipal customers
 Our Education Coordinator also assisted 2,219 callers.

800
Recycle Depot
Customers & Calls
700 Customers - Residential
Customers - Business
Customers - Municipal
600 Calls

500

400

300

200

100

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 2009 Customer Township

German, 166, 2% Green, 214, 3%

Polk, 546, 8%
Tippecanoe, 32, 0%

North, 674, 10%

Union, 516, 7%

Center, 3562, 51%

West, 874, 12%

Walnut, 92, 1%

Bourbon, 103, 2% Other, 249, 4%

2009 Recycle Depot Customer Frequency

Wednesday, 1388,
Thursday, 1282,
20%
18%

Tuesday, 1880,
27% Friday, 1377, 19%
Monday, 897, 13%

Saturday, 204, 3%

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Marshall County Recycling Data
In 2009, 2,883,399 lbs. of recyclable materials were collected in Marshall County through residential curbside recycling.
The Recycle Depot also recycled an additional:
 176,740 lbs. of mixed paper (Recycling Works )
 73,628 lbs. of cardboard “OCC” received and baled (Recycling Recovery)
 87,360 lbs. of co-mingled plastic, glass, & metal (Key Waste)
 9,321 lbs. of steel cans collected and baled from school cafeterias.
 20,211 lbs. of confidential documents were shredded before recycling (Integra)
 The Depot also collected pop tabs, and hardback books. It was a banner year for hardback books in 2009 with
17,785 lbs. of books being distributed for reuse, and 5,652 lbs. of books recycled (Recycling Recovery).

300,000 lbs. RECYCLE DEPOT

Fiber Recycling (excludes hardback books)
Confidential Document Shredding
250,000 lbs. Drop-off Mixed Paper
OCC Bales

200,000 lbs.

150,000 lbs.

100,000 lbs.

50,000 lbs.

0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

90,000 lbs. RECYCLE DEPOT

80,000 lbs. Co-mingled Recycling
(plastic, glass, & metal)
70,000 lbs. excludes appliances & steel bales
60,000 lbs.

50,000 lbs.

40,000 lbs.

30,000 lbs.

20,000 lbs.

10,000 lbs.

0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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Hazardous Waste
Hazardous Materials are collected, identified, sorted by hazard class, weighed, labeled, and further prepared for shipping.
Some testing may also be required for unknowns. Our hazardous materials contractor (New Genesis) is subsequently
contacted for recycling or ultimate disposal. In 2009, the following hazardous wastes were shipped:

 16,948 lbs. of oil-based paint

 2,833 lbs. of flammable liquids
 1,806 lbs. of poisons
 618 lbs. of hazardous aerosols
 1,396 lbs. of other hazardous waste (i.e. acids, bases, oxidizers, etc.)
 In 2009, 12,835 lbs. of hazardous wastes were reused through the swap shop program. This resulted in a
considerable cost savings for the program.
 The Depot also collected ballasts (PCB & non-PCB) and pressure vessels though collection data is not available.

25,000 lbs.
RECYCLE DEPOT
HHW Recycling /
20,000 lbs. Disposal

15,000 lbs.
All Other HHW/CESQG Wastes**
Aerosols
10,000 lbs. Poisons - herbicides, pesticides
Flammable Liquids*
Paint - Oil Based
5,000 lbs.

0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Automotive Waste
The Depot maintains a 400 gallon storage tank for used
motor oil, as well as a 400 gallon tank for antifreeze. Oil
filters are collected in 55 gallon drums. These
automotive wastes are collected for recycling by our
contractor Safety Kleen. Safety Kleen recycles the used
motor oil into new motor oil, and pays the Recycle
Depot $0.25 per gallon. On several occasions we have
diverted larger volumes of used motor oil to area
automotive repair businesses who are seeking the oil for
use as furnace fuel. The following automotive wastes
were shipped for recycling in 2009:

 7,948 lbs. of used motor oil

 1,488 lbs. of antifreeze
 675 lbs. of used oil filters

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Electronic Waste
Electronic waste (aka e-waste) is the fastest growing portion of
the waste stream and contains considerable amounts of
hazardous heavy metals and other pollutants. E-waste is
recycled by our contractor (Chesapeake Electronic Recycling). A
great deal of care and effort are taken when evaluating
electronics recycling vendors to make sure no portions of the
waste stream are being disposed of or shipped overseas.

Some former school student computers are refurbished by our

staff and distributed freely to municipalities, non-profits, and
Marshall County residents. We currently maintain a waiting list
for customers wanting a refurbished computer system. CDs are
recycled through the CD Recycling Center of America. The
following electronics were shipped in 2009:

 40,820 lbs. of electronics were recycled

 98 PCs were refurbished and distributed
 Digital disc media was collected and reused as teacher’s
craft supplies

45,000 lbs.
RECYCLE DEPOT
40,000 lbs.
Electronics Recycling
8,915 lbs.
35,000 lbs. Other Electronics
3,491 lbs.

30,000 lbs. Televisions 2,535 lbs.

6,983 lbs.
5,930 lbs. 10,517 lbs.
Computer
25,000 lbs.
Equipment

20,000 lbs.
3,319 lbs.
15,000 lbs. 2,352 lbs.
23,316 lbs. 24,439 lbs.
10,000 lbs. 21,388 lbs.
13,327 lbs.
5,000 lbs.

0 lbs.
2006 2007 2008 2009

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Universal Waste
Universal wastes are collected and transported to our mercury waste hub (Howard County Solid Waste). Marshall County
Solid Waste participates in a grant funded program which helps cover some of the disposal costs for universal waste.
Household batteries are collected at the Depot, as well as several partner locations (Radio Shacks and some hardware
stores). Once sorted and packed, the rechargeable batteries are shipped to RBRC (Rechargeable Battery Recycling
Corporation). Other non-rechargeable batteries are transported to the Northeast Indiana Solid Waste for collection by
our battery recycling contractor (Battery Solutions). The following universal wastes were shipped for recycling in 2009:

 2,897 lbs. of fluorescent lamps

 23 lbs. of mercury devices
 26 lbs. of elemental mercury
 15 lbs. of mercury debris
 7,921 lbs. of batteries

4,000 lbs. Recycle Depot 3,632 lbs.

Fluorescent Lamp
3,500 lbs.
Recycling 2,900 lbs. 2,897 lbs.
3,000 lbs.

2,500 lbs.
1,888 lbs.
2,000 lbs.

1,500 lbs.
817 lbs.
1,000 lbs.

500 lbs.

0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

8,000 lbs. RECYCLE DEPOT BATTERY RECYCLING

Rechargeable
7,000 lbs. Other Hazardous Chemistry Batteries
Alkaline
6,000 lbs. Lead-Acid

5,000 lbs.

4,000 lbs.

3,000 lbs.

2,000 lbs.

1,000 lbs.

0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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White Goods
Large metal appliances and a small amount of scrap metal are collected at the Recycle Depot and sent to our contractor
(OmniSource Corporation) for recycling. Our HazMat Specialist recovers any remaining Freon (CFC) from any refrigerated
appliances. The following white goods were collected in 2009:

 7,022 lbs. of CFC appliances

 3,618 lbs. of other white goods

16,000 lbs.
RECYCLE DEPOT
White Goods Recycling
14,000 lbs.

Other White Goods

12,000 lbs.
CFC Appliances
10,000 lbs.

8,000 lbs.

6,000 lbs.

4,000 lbs.

2,000 lbs.

0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

K-Fuel - Biodiesel from cooking oil

The Recycle Depot has partnered with Howard County Recycling and
the city of Kokomo in collecting waste cooking oil and converting it
into a biofuel that helps reduce Kokomo's carbon footprint and diesel
costs. Kokomo aims to produce 30,000 gallons of biofuel a year (at a
cost of approximately $0.70 a gallon), which amounts to 20 percent
of the city's annual fuel consumption.

The program also significantly reduces the maintenance and repair

costs on sewer and lift stations caused by the build-up of fats, oils,
and grease entering the sewer and waste water treatment facility.

We hope that other municipalities within Marshall County chose to

mirror this program in the future.

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Tires
Though we utilize a local vendor for tire recycling (North Liberty Tire Recycling), we are also looking for higher end uses
for recycled tires. Currently some of the tires are retread or made into crumb rubber (mulch), many of the tires are
shredded and used for alternative daily cover at area landfills. In 2009 the following tires were collected for recycling:
 1,701 car tires
 65 semi tires
 7 tractor tires

1,800 ea. RECYCLE DEPOT TIRE

1,600 ea. RECYCLING
1,400 ea.
1,200 ea. Tires - Tractor
1,000 ea. Tires - Truck
Tires - Car
800 ea.
600 ea.
400 ea.
200 ea.
0 ea.
2006 2007 2008 2009

Sharps and expired medications

Sharps (mostly used syringes) are collected at several partner locations (mostly area pharmacies) in addition to being
collected at the Recycle Depot. Our contractor Ampro collects the sharps for proper disposal at a licensed medical waste
incinerator. Ampro is also our contractor for expired medication disposal. Marshall County TRIAD and Detective Ward
Byers of the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department aided us with collection of controlled substances at the Health Fair /
Senior Expo.
 664 lbs. of sharps
 358 lbs. of expired meds
 These totals do not include narcotics collected and disposed of through the Sheriff’s Department.

1,000 lbs. RECYCLE DEPOT

900 lbs. Medical Waste Disposal 358 lbs.
800 lbs.
Expired Medications
700 lbs. Sharps
600 lbs.
500 lbs. 46 lbs.
84 lbs.
400 lbs. 58 lbs.

300 lbs.
200 lbs.
100 lbs. 333 lbs. 365 lbs. 479 lbs. 403 lbs. 664 lbs.
0 lbs.
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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Educational Activities
The following educational activities took place in 2009:

 Classroom presentations – reached

approximately 600 students

th
Plymouth 8 grade tours – 320 students
 Donated environmental education DVDs to all
high schools and libraries within Marshall
County
 Health Fair / Senior Expo – unknown exposure
 Marshall County 4H Fair – unknown exposure
 Recycling activity books distributed to Marshall
County libraries and schools
 Marianne Peters environmental newspaper
column sponsorship
 WTCA Bog Frog campaign in cooperation with Marshall
County Soil & Water
 Recycling brochures distributed to businesses, libraries, post
offices, and schools
 Continued to build our Lending Library with educational books
and DVD. See http://beta.rshelf.com/faces/Recycle Depot
 Continued to build our Educational/Teacher supply area
 Blueberry presentation/craft activities
 Blueberry "Green Team" sponsor and participation
 Distributed book-covers made from post-consumer recycled
paper and with recycled message
 Developed a Facebook page to help disseminate information
 Mercury awareness television campaign in cooperation Solid
Waste Association

Local recycling efforts as related to carbon dioxide emissions and climate change.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the WAste Reduction Model (WARM) to help solid
waste planners report greenhouse gas emission reductions from waste management practices. The WARM model is
based on a complete waste life-cycle analysis, which reflects emissions and avoided emissions upstream and downstream
from the point of use. As such, the emission factors provided in this model provide an account of the net benefit of these
actions to the environment.

Based on Marshall County recycling data using EPA’s WARM model, in 2009 local residential recycling efforts had a carbon
reduction equivalent to:

 Removing 843 passenger vehicles off the road, or

 Consuming 496,063 less gallons of gas, or
 Consuming 10,256 less barrels of oil, or
 Eliminating one year’s use of electricity in 573 homes.

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A sustainability initiative has been in place ever since the opening of the Recycle Depot. As part of this initiative,
numerous energy conservation techniques are in practice, examples include:
 Use of on-demand water heaters
 Use of programmable thermostats set at conservative temperatures
 Use of energy efficient fluorescent, LED, and natural lighting where possible
 Use of occupancy sensors in key locations
 Use of automatic PC hibernation shareware (Snap CO2)
 Use of smart power strips to eliminate vampire electricity use
 Use of a Kill-A-Watt meter to assess efficiency of electrical devices in use at the Recycle Depot
 Use of a thermal leak detector to identify potential heating and cooling inefficiencies
 Energy strategic planting of deciduous trees around the office building
 In lieu of paper towels or hand dryers in the restroom we use cloth towels and take them home for washing.
 Use of 100% post-consumer waste office paper
 Use of bathroom tissue made from 80% post-consumer recycled paper.
 Use of add-on bidet to help clean under-sized sewer lateral and reduce need for bathroom tissue.

No-mow zones help Recycle Depot keep costs and carbon emissions low
The Recycle Depot only mows about 2 acres of lawn on its 6.7 acre parcel. Areas of the property that received little or no
use are designated as no-mow zones and allowed to grow as meadow. The no-mow zones help the Recycle Depot meet
several important goals:
 saves many hours of labor
 reduces expenses
 conserves fossils fuels
 zones serve as protective cover for wildlife
 reduces our carbon footprint

People enjoy the look and feel of a meadow. The Director hopes to expand the no-mow zones to other parts of the
property and eliminate invasive species of plant life including canary grass and Canadian thistle. No chemical herbicides
or pesticides have been used on the grounds of the Recycle Depot since its acquisition. The Recycle Depot is seeking
carbon neutrality, with plans of incorporating permaculture practices in the future. This includes the planting of fruit and
nut trees within the no-mow zones.

Other activities & items of note

 Recycle Depot employees have embraced the concept of living a green lifestyle including the use of alternative
modes of transportation. Focusing on health and well-being, bicycling has become part of this lifestyle.
Hazardous Materials Specialist Tim Eads and Director Mike Good frequently commute by bicycle to and from
work. Mr. Eads bike commuted a total of 45 working days in 2009. Using the carbon footprint calculator
available at terrapass.com, his bike commuting resulted in a CO2 offset of 417 lbs. Mr. Good commuted by
bicycle a total of 80 working days in 2009 equating to an additional CO2 offset of 641 lbs.
 In addition to our Swap Shop, the Depot also distributes craft supplies for use in the classroom and childcare
facilities.
 In 2008, the Recycle Depot placed into operation the first solar powered stationary compactor in this region of
the United States. The compactor is used to compact mixed paper and has proven to significantly reduce our
transportation costs.
 The Recycle Depot continues to utilize drums (steel, plastic, & fiber), Gaylord boxes, and plastic buckets from
local businesses for packing many of our waste materials. This saves the Depot a significant amount of money
from our supply budget and often saves the donating businesses money from avoided disposal costs. To this
end, the Recycle Depot was able to sell (at cost) several hundred pickle and pepper drums from Bay Valley Foods
in 2009. Most of these drums were converted into rain barrels.
 On Saturday, August 29 , the Recycle Depot assisted with a local adopt-a-road project collecting 122 lbs. of litter.
th

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Gas, electric, and water utility graphs depicting resources consumed at the Recycle Depot.
The spike in water usage in July 2006 is from office construction and trying to establish the lawn immediately surrounding
the office building. The Director is hoping to increase the cellulous insulation in the attic of the warehouse to reduce gas
heating expenses. Currently the warehouse attic insulation only has an R value of 19. The Director would like to increase
this to R38. Note that the electricity use spikes correlate with use of the furnace fans.

2500
Recycle Depot
2000
Gas & Electric Utility Data
Av. Temp.

1500 CCF
KWH used

1000

500

50000
Recycle Depot - Water Usage

5000

500

50

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Festival & event recycling efforts
Significant recycling efforts were made in 2009 at local
fairs and festivals. Recycling receptacles were made
available at:
 Marshall County 4H Fair
 Culver Lake Fest – recycling bins are in use at
the lakeside park year round
 Yellow River Festival
 Blueberry Festival - recycling bins are in use in
Centennial Park including the pool throughout
the year.
 We seek to include the Bremen’s Fireman’s
Festival in upcoming years.

In 2009, the Blueberry Festival established a 20 member

Blue Goes Green Team that helped festival goers with
questions about recycling as well as general questions
about the Blueberry Festival. Marianne Peters served as
chairperson for the Blue Goes Green Team.

200 blue recycling bins were distributed throughout

Centennial Park and over 3 tons of bottles and cans as well
as cardboard were collected during the event for recycling.

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 Recycle Depot Fee Schedule
________________________________________________________________________

1900 Walter Glaub Drive, Plymouth, IN 46563

(574) 935-8618 or (800) 935-8618
www.recycleyourtrash.org

FEE SCHEDULE EFFECTIVE JUNE 2009

Household Business Municipal Household Business Municipal
Problem Waste Problem Waste
Fee Fee No-Profit Fee Fee No-Profit
AUTOMOTIVE WASTE APPLIANCES WITH FREON
Motor Oil $/gal. Free Free 5 gal. Free Refrigerator / Freezer $/ea. $25.00 $25.00 Free
Oil Filters $/ea. Free Limit 10 Free Air Conditioner $/ea. $25.00 $25.00 Free
Antifreeze $/gal. Free Free 5 gal. Free Dehumidifier $/ea. $25.00 $25.00 Free
Transmission / Hydraulic Fluid $/gal. Free Free 5 gal. Free Water Fountain (Refrigerated) $/ea. $25.00 $25.00 Free
Gear Oil $/gal. Free Free 5 gal. Free
APPLIANCES WITHOUT FREON (check at scrap yards, usually free)
BATTERIES Washer or Dryer $/ea. $10.00 $10.00 N/A
Alkaline Free Free Free Dishwasher $/ea. $10.00 $10.00 N/A
Mercury Button Free Free Free Stove, Range, or Oven $/ea. $10.00 $10.00 N/A
Lithium / Lithium Ion Free Free Free Water Heater (Metal) $/ea. $10.00 $10.00 N/A
Ni/Cd - Dry or Wet Free Free Free Countertop - Small & Metal Free Free Free
Ni-MH Free Free Free (i.e., microwave, toaster oven, etc.)
Silver Oxide Free Free Free
Lead Acid Free Free Free ELECTRONICS (more specifically - items containing a circuit board)
Answering Machine Free Free Free
HAZARDOUS WASTE * (no latex paint, see below for other limitations) Arcade Game - Floor Standing $/ea. $20.00 $20.00 Free
(multiply hazardous waste fee by 6 for conversion to gallons) Calculator Free Free Free
Paint $/lb. Free $0.50 Free Camera / Camcorder Free Free Free
Flammable or Aerosol Cans $/lb. Free $1.00 Free Cassette Player Free Free Free
Corrosives - Acids or Bases $/lb. Free $1.50 Call CD Player / Writer Free Free Free
Poisons & Pesticides $/lb. Free $2.50 Call Computer "PC" - Tower or Desktop Free Free Free
Organic Peroxides $/lb. Free $2.50 Call CRT Monitor $/ea. $5.00 $5.00 Free
Oxidizers $/lb. Free $2.50 Call Computer - Mainframe $/ea. $20.00 $20.00 Free
Copier - Desktop Free Free Free
MERCURY & UNIVERSAL WASTE Copy Machine - Floor Standing $/ea. $20.00 $20.00 Call
Fluorescent Bulbs (unbroken) $/ft. Free $0.065 Free DVD Player Free Free Free
Fluorescent Bulbs (broken) $/ea. Free $2.00 Free Fax Machine Free Free Free
U-tubes, Circline, & CFLs $/ea. Free $0.50 Free Hard Drive Free Free Free
HID Lamps $/ea. Free $1.00 Free Keyboard & Mouse Free Free Free
UV Lamps $/ea. Free $2.00 Free Laptop Free Free Free
Ballasts (non PCB) $/ea. Free Free Free Modem Free Free Free
Mercury Elemental $/lb. Free $1.25 Free Monitor - Flat Panel (TV or PC) Free Free Free
Mercury Devices & Debris $/lb Free $3.25 Call Pager / PDA Free Free Free
Mercury Compounds $/lb. Free $5.25 Call Palm Organizer Free Free Free
Printer / Printer Cartridge Free Free Free
TIRES (no tires containing mud and/or water) Radio Free Free Free
Car & Passenger Truck Tires $/ea. $1.00 $1.00 Free Scanner Free Free Free
Semi-truck & Trailer Tires $/ea. $5.00 $5.00 Free Stereo / Receiver Free Free Free
Tractor Tires $/ea. $15.00 $15.00 Free Surge Protector Free Free Free
Tires on rims an additional $/ea. $3.00 $3.00 N/A Tape Backup Drive Free Free Free
Telephone - Standard & Cellular Free Free Free
OTHER PROBLEM WASTE Television up to "18 $/ea. $5.00 $5.00 Free
Medicine (no controlled substances) Free N/A Call Television from 19" - 39" $/ea. $10.00 $10.00 Free
Sharps - Syringes & Lancets Free N/A Call Television 40" & larger $/ea. $20.00 $20.00 Call
Pressure Vessels (Small - 1 lb.) $/ea. $5.00 $5.00 Call Transcription Machine Free Free Free
Fire Extinguishers $/ea. $5.00 $5.00 Call Video Cassette Recorder "VCR" Free Free Free
PCB Capacitors or Ballasts $/lb. Free $4.00 Free Video Game Player Free Free Free
Services limited to MARSHALL COUNTY RESIDENTS ONLY. Businesses must qualify as Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG).
A CESQG is a business that does not generate more than 220 lbs. of hazardous waste or 2.2 lbs. of acutely hazardous waste each month,
or store more than 2,200 lbs. (approx. 4 - 55 gallon drums) of hazardous waste at any time. Exclusions may apply for universal wastes.
We reserve the right to limit quantities and/or frequency of visits. Although we do not accept explosive waste (such as ammunition,
fireworks, or flares), radioactive waste (such as smoke alarms), or controlled substances, residents are encouraged to call our office for disposal guidance.
* See back of this page for examples of common hazardous household wastes.

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