Mid Valley Recycling leads the way

Recently, Valley Community for Recycling Solutions announced the arrival and operation of the new bailer, which will substantially increase the amount of recycling materials the Center can handle. This prompted a renewed call to the Mat-Su Borough to provide recycling opportunities in outlying communities.

Mid-Valley Recycling began in 2012 with a few people interested in helping preserve the environment. Volunteers from Big Lake, Meadow Lakes, Houston, and Willow began working together to make recycling a reality. With the help of a small grant from the Big Lake Community Council a recycling trailer was rented and placed at the Big Lake Transfer Site.

Recycling is available during all the hours the site is open which is seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Plastics, paper, cardboard, newspaper, and cans are collected and twice monthly volunteers transport and unload the trailer at VCRS. Often the trailer is overflowing and bags have to be carried in the back of the pick-up truck used to haul the trailer. Last year, approximately 100,000 cubic feet of recyclables were taken to VCRS to be shipped Outside to be remade and reused.

A flatbed trailer was donated to Mid Valley Recycling by Houston and was retrofitted for recycling with help from a Matanuska Electric Association grant. This new trailer plus one just for cardboard will allow more materials to be taken to VCRS instead of the landfill. Volunteers also monitor the bins during the week, re-sorting some of the materials and keeping the area around the trailer picked up.

Willow also has been working to establish a sustainable recycling program and at this time has been collecting plastics once a month at the Willow Transfer station. Willow consistently fills several large bins with plastics and, again, volunteers take the trailer to VCRS.

One of the major goals of Mid-Valley Recycling is to have recycling containers at all borough transfer sites starting with Big Lake and Willow. This also is the new goal of VCRS. Big Lake now has containers for recyclables but a big help right now would be the transportation of these to VCRS by borough employees. The Mat-Su Borough Assembly passed a Zero Waste resolution in 2006, which was “to engage in Zero Waste practices — and outreach and actions within the communities.” It is hoped that the borough will continue to work on expanding this practice to the outlying communities. Transportation of recycle containers is a big issue for the success of recycling in these communities and it is hoped that borough employees could help with this task. If this were to happen, volunteers would continue to help monitor the containers as well as promote Zero Waste practices. Education of what to recycle and how to prepare it correctly is an ongoing process for volunteers as well as promoting “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle” in all the communities.

Volunteers with trucks are needed in the Big Lake area to sign up to haul the trailer from Big Lake to VCRS in Palmer and back. To volunteer, email sammytaylor@live.com, or call 892-2400.

Ken Walch lives in Big Lake.