Northwood News ♦ October 2008

New County Recycling Rules — No More Checking Necks or Numbers

By Jacquie Bokow

Montgomery County has greatly expanded its curbside recycling program for plastics.  Instead of accepting only plastic bottles with a narrow neck, Montgomery County residents can now recycle plastic bottles, containers, and lids.  There’s no need to check for the neck or the number!  Recycling is the law in Montgomery County, which has a goal to recycle 50 percent of all waste generated in the County.

Do Recycle

• Plastic bottles such as milk, juice, water, syrup, vegetable oil, salad dressing, detergent, and shampoo/conditioner bottles
• Plastic food-grade tubs and lids such as margarine/butter tubs, cottage cheese, yogurt, mayonnaise, dairy topping, peanut butter, and salad containers
• Plastic pails/buckets such as ice cream, detergent, pet food and kitty litter containers
• Plastic flower pots
• Plastic beverage cups

Don’t Recycle

• Any plastic bottle or container that held hazardous automotive or garden products such as motor oil, antifreeze and pesticides
• Plastic wrap and bags
• Polystyrene and Styrofoam products

The Rules

• Labels and plastic rings around the neck of the bottles are okay.
• Empty the containers.
• Rinse.  The less contamination the better.
• Place plastic containers (and lids) in your blue bin.

The County also provides scheduled curbside collection of large scrap metal items such as appliances, metal filing cabinets, metal doors, lawn mowers, or grills.  To schedule a scrap metal pick-up, contact the Division of Solid Waste Services, 240.777.6410 or https://www2.montgomerycountymd.gov/DepHowDoI/ material.aspx?tag=scrap-metal&material_key=69 by 7:00 p.m. the day before your regular recycling collection day.

To reach our goal, we need all of our residents to know what can be recycled and actively participate in the County’s comprehensive recycling program.  The County provides weekly recycling collection service to about 208,000 single-family households for mixed paper, cardboard and paperboard; commingled materials (aluminum cans and foil products, bi-metal steel/tin cans, glass bottles and jars and plastic bottles and containers); yard trim materials (grass, leaves, brush and garden trimmings) and Christmas trees.

[Note:  URL above has been updated.  This article was truncated in the printed newsletter.]   ■