Lexington’s recycling center is about to be shut down for three months. It’s needed as the final pieces of a major 18-month overhaul are put in place at the Thompson Road facility. Angela Poe with Environmental Quality and Public Works said door-to-door recycling in Lexington will continue during this time. She says the Rumpke waste management company will be trucking recyclables up to Cincinnati. “We are really emphasizing recycling right, because for us to send something to Rumpke it cost us a 165 dollars per ton. And if we’re going to landfill it, and we do that directly, it cost us 25 to 30 dollars per ton,” said Poe.
Poe said the additional cost of $1.4 million can be absorbed short-term without a need to raise waste management collection taxes. When the Lexington recycling center reopens Poe noted residents will be able to once again place papers in their Rosie curbside containers.
She added the changes at the center include improvements in glass sorting. “This new system will take the glass out of the stream earlier, so hopefully we’re not damaging equipment as much with the glass material. So, that doesn’t change what we can accept, but it does make that item less damaging to our system,” noted Poe.
The shutdown at the Lexington recycling center is set to start on December 13th and conclude on March 14th.
