HELENA — In anticipation of Earth Day on April 22nd the City of Helena wants to remind residents of the city’s transfer station offerings while they spring clean.
The City is working on a strategic plan to cut the amount of waste going into the landfill in half by 2040, and right now, city leaders are urging residents to use the transfer station for their spring cleaning needs.
"Recycling is important to keep as much of the material out of the landfill as possible," said Kim Carley, City of Helena Recycling Supervisor.
Carley says that recyclable items are thrown in the landfill due to incorrect sorting of glass, plastics, and cardboard.
"There's a certain percentage that's allowed before it's considered contaminated, and once it's contaminated, they'll reject the load, and then we have to landfill it," said Carley.
With a permit, the Helena Transfer Station allows residents to recycle items like scrap metal, tree branches, glass, used oil, and plastics 1 and 2.
Another issue is that the landfill is seeing fires due to lithium batteries, so the transfer station is offering a smaller drop-off location for lithium batteries to decrease the possibility of fires, but it is just the beginning.
"The transfer station is offering a pilot program for the collection of those lithium batteries to keep those out of the solid waste system," said Jacki Pierson, Lewis and Clark County Landfill Administrative Assistant.
The recycling containers have signs posted on the proper way to dispose of the items, such as cleaning glass and removing plastic stoppers and lids, as well as removing trash bags from branches.
"Separate the material, drop it off at the proper locations. Here we have lots of availability for different materials. Instead of just throwing it all into the pit, keep it out of the way and fill if you can,"
"Just do the right thing," said Carley.
There are recycling containers located at Safeway, Grubstake, Mini Basket, Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds, Boeing, and across from Dale Harris Park.
