By Mary Owen
Editor’s note: A mix up in literature from Allied Waste lead to last month’s erroneous story on Aumsville getting a commingled waste program. The program is in Salem. The error was ours, not theirs. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience.
The corrected story appears below:
Allied Waste Services in Aumsville is not instituting a food waste commingling program at this time.
“That program has been strictly implemented in city of Salem,” said Amy Hettwer, customer service manager for Allied in Marion County and Salem.
There has been discussion of a mixed organics cart for Aumsville, but nothing has yet been decided, and if implemented, would be in the far future, Hettwer said.
In July, Aumsville residents did get the addition of a curbside commingle recycle cart that allows recyclable materials to be picked up biweekly. Excluded in the cart pick up are usable latex paint, motor oil, dry-cell batteries, vegetable cooking oil, glass bottles and antifreeze, which are still to be placed in the existing red and blue bins.
“This will allow our citizens to play a bigger role preserving our environment, said Colleen Rogers, Aumsville City Clerk.
Customers wishing a service change are asked to contact Allied Waste. Several package options and rates are available (see www.alliedwastemarioncounty.com for list). One cart change a year is permitted at no charge, with a $15 charge per change after that, according to company policy.
“There is no change to the items that can be recycled,” Rogers said. “The difference is that they don’t have to separate newspapers from junk mail, and so forth. It just all goes into the bigger container together. This will make it more convenient to recycle.”
Rogers said residents will be encouraged to recycle in larger volume, a big step toward better managing the heaps of garbage now finding its way to local landfills.
Allowed in the commingle cart are: cardboard, clean newspapers, clean mixed-waste papers, grayboard, rigid plastic bottles/tubs (rinsed, no lids), tin and aluminum cans, clean foil, metal aerosol cans with tips and caps removed and scrap metal under 10 lbs. and 18 inches long.
Not acceptable as recycling are: windows, car glass, mirror, dishware, rocks, cement, gravel, dirt, non-usable paints, chemicals, pesticides, state-regulated medical waste (syringes, etc.), plastic bags of any type, vehicle batteries, Styrofoam, any loose fluids or broken glass.
