Two-Stage Separation Recycling

What is "two-stage separation"? Some of our experienced municipal members have learned that the best way to keep contamination out of their recyclables is to have residents drop off the material in either a designated bin or on a table.  Many recycling centers do not have full-time staff available to watch everyone drop-off their recyclables, so this process allows residents a place to leave items to be sorted daily or hourly. Good signage helps residents know what to do, and then the recycling facility staff can have the confidence that, when they sell their material to market through NRRA, it is clean and will receive the highest value.

Littleton, NH has a separate bin for residents to drop off cardboard, and Sunapee, NH has a table set up for glass jars and bottles assuring material is inspected prior to going in the baler or in a roll-off container.

If a community has plastic or other paper products in their cardboard, they will receive a lower price for it or risk having the bales/load rejected.

If a community's glass is anything other than jars or bottles, the contaminants can spoil the whole pile of glass that is going to be manufactured into fiberglass or even break the expensive machinery. Similarly, glass going to a Processed Glass Aggregate (PGA) site, should also be clean of contaminants such as trash, light bulbs, etc.

Thank you to all our members for these great ideas on how to make the cleanest recyclable material possible!

Sunapee two-stage separation