Oak Ridge Today

City explains need for space between garbage, recycling bins at curb

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The City of Oak Ridge has explained the need for space between garbage and recycling bins at the curb under a new contract with Waste Connections, the trash collector.

New blue 95-gallon garbage cans have been dropped off at Oak Ridge homes. The city and Waste Connections have asked residents to place the carts at least five feet away from other objects such as mailboxes and cars, avoid placing them under trees and power lines, and keep garbage and recycling containers at least three feet apart.

In a short video posted by the city, the garbage cans are shown being picked up by a hydraulic arm and dumped into a Waste Connections truck.

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New garbage bins dropped off at homes

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New garbage bins are being dropped off at Oak Ridge homes. The deliveries began Monday, June 21. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

New garbage bins are being dropped off at Oak Ridge homes. The deliveries began Monday, June 21.

The blue bins should be used for your household garbage and brought to the curb on your scheduled pickup date starting in July, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

The new, 95-gallon trash bins will eliminate the need for residents to purchase multiple 32-gallon bins to accommodate household waste, the press release said.

Many residents already participate in the recycle program and have previously been provided a brown cart that is taken to the curb. This service has not changed, but if you do not already own a brown recycle cart, one will be provided to you upon request, the press release said.

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Garbage has to be brought to curb starting July 1

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The Waste Connections Convenience Center is pictured on Warehouse Road in east Oak Ridge on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 6:30 p.m.

With limited exceptions, garbage cans in Oak Ridge will have to be brought to the curb for the weekly pickup starting July 1, and there will be a $1.20 monthly fee increase for the waste disposal service.

The city’s previous 25-year contract is expiring, and the new contract will start July 1.

Unlike many cities, Oak Ridge has had a “backdoor pickup” garbage service for years, but that is ending. With that back door service, garbage would be picked up away from the curb—at a back door, for example.

Under the new contract, people with qualifying disabilities will still be eligible for backdoor garbage and recycling services. (More information is included below.)

As part of the contract change to curbside pickup, new large 95-gallon trash bins will be provided at no cost, a press release said.

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Y-12 recycling sensitive documents, converting into reusable briquettes

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The paper disintegrator system at the Y-12 National Security Complex produces paper briquettes to be used by off-site recycling vendors to make compressed paper products. The briquettes are currently reused by a commercial company to make a cellulose binder for construction products, such as asphalt sealants. (Photo courtesy CNS Y-12)

Note: This story was updated at 12:45 p.m. April 21.

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is recycling sensitive documents by disintegrating them and compressing them into paper briquettes, which are used to make a cellulose binder for construction products, such as asphalt sealants.

In Fiscal Year 2019, 270,000 pounds of paper briquettes were recycled, according to Consolidated Nuclear Security, which manages and operates Y-12 as well as the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

Sensitive documents generally contain content that is deemed sensitive for business or classification reasons. Y-12 said all of the documents generated at its site, a nuclear weapons production plant, are processed through its Destruction and Recycle, or DAR, facility.

The paper is processed through a disintegrator before it is put into a briquettor. The disintegrated paper meets security specifications for size reduction, CNS said.

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Anderson County will also stop recycling glass

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Like other counties and Oak Ridge, Anderson County will stop recycling glass.

The county announced the suspension of glass recycling in a press release on Monday.

The press release said Anderson County Solid Waste was notified on August 15 that WestRock, the county’s recycling vendor, would suspend the “receiving, handling, and marketing of glass bottles and jars collected at (the) county’s drop off centers” effective September 1.

To prepare for the change, the Marlow Convenience Center will stop accepting glass for recycling on August 29, the press release said. Residents should place glass in their regular garbage for disposal, the release said.

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Waste Connections will no longer accept glass for recycling

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Waste Connections of Tennessee, the city’s garbage contractor, will stop accepting glass for recycling next week (Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019). The glass has been accepted for recycling at the Convenience Center on Warehouse Road in east Oak Ridge, pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Waste Connections of Tennessee, the city’s garbage contractor, will stop accepting glass for recycling next week.

The glass has been accepted for recycling at the Convenience Center in east Oak Ridge.

The last day glass will be accepted at the Convenience Center will be Thursday, August 29, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release Tuesday.

Beginning Friday, August 30, glass should be placed with regular trash, the press release said.

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Christmas tree recycling available in Oak Ridge

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Employees to assist with drop-offs on two Saturdays in January

The City of Oak Ridge has two drop-off locations available for citizens to recycle their Christmas trees after the holidays. Signs will be posted in both locations. The drop-offs are:

  • Big Turtle Park, 2525 Oak Ridge Turnpike (parking lot)
  • Solway Park, 205 Edgemoor Road (parking lot adjacent to the boat launch)

Trees will be accepted any time through the end of January 2019. On Saturday, January 12, and Saturday, January 19, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department employees will be on site to assist with unloading trees at the Big Turtle Park drop-off location from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Please be sure to remove all tinsel and decorations from Christmas trees before dropping them off for recycling, a press release said. Wreaths and garland will also be accepted, but no brush.

For more information, contact the Recreation and Parks Department by phone at (865) 425-3450 or visit their departmental website at orrecparks.oakridgetn.gov.

Waste Connections suspends glass recycling

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Note: This story was updated at 1:20 p.m.

Waste Connections of Tennessee has announced that beginning January 1, 2017, they will suspend glass recycling for their curbside pickup program in Oak Ridge in an effort to remain “dedicated to maintaining a healthy and strong recycling program for all residents,” a press release said.

“Markets for recyclable materials ebb and flow, and changes in glass markets have made this change in service necessary,” Doug McGill, municipal marketing manager for Waste Connections Inc., said in a recent letter to Oak Ridge officials. “By removing glass from curbside collection, we will preserve the overall integrity of our recycling program.”

A City of Oak Ridge press release said McGill went on to say that the processor of recyclables in Knoxville will stop accepting single-stream recycling glass after the first of the year, as will most processing companies across the country. [Read more…]

BES Technologies celebrates one million gallons of recycled water

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BES Technologies Rad Waste Water Laundry Operations

BES Technologies LLC, or BEST, has reached a major milestone by recycling one million gallons of radiological waste water through its laundry operations at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

“This represents the prevention of one million gallons of water that would have gone into our environment, but instead was cleaned and re-used,” a press release said. “This recycling process not only avoids environmental insult, but also allows for savings to be passed on to customers by cleaning and reusing water.”

The press release said the laundering service uses a state-of-the-art radiological water treatment system, and it is able to reuse more than 70 percent of the water used in its process. [Read more…]

Earth Day Festival is April 25 at A.K. Bissell Park

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Earth Day

Pictured above is a special recycling event at Earth Day Festival.

Keep Anderson County Beautiful will host the eighth annual Earth Day festival in Oak Ridge on Saturday, April 25, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at A.K. Bissell Park.

East Tennessee residents living in or around Oak Ridge are invited to participate in the festival, organizers said. It features free activities and events that promote healthy living and environmental education, and that encourage individuals to create and contribute to a sustainable community.

Sponsored in major part by KACB and Leidos, Earth Day will feature outdoor games for children, music, healthy food vendors, exhibitors showcasing educational booths, an on-site scavenger hunt, and neighborhood games such as hopscotch, bocce, croquet, flying discs, ladder ball and a special reduce, reuse, recycle game. There will be a special area for preschool children. [Read more…]

Recycle electronics, other items; shred documents on Saturday

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You can recycle certain electronics and other items and shred documents during a recycling event on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Saturday.

The recycling program is sponsored by Keep Anderson County Beautiful. It is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, November 8, at the Potter’s Clearance Center next to Willow Ridge Garden Center.

It’s part of the national America Recycles Day, sponsored by Keep America Beautiful.

During the local event, Scott Recycling of Knoxville will collect old computers and peripherals, cell phones, rechargeable and button batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs (no tubes), used books (not text books), and eyeglasses. For televisions, there is a charge of $20/TV and $1 per CRT computer monitor because of current expenses associated with recycling CRT screens. No TV cabinetry will be accepted. Scott Recycling from Knoxville will be recycling the electronics. [Read more…]

Traffic Safety, Environmental Advisory board member running for City Council

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Aditya "Doc" Savara

Aditya “Doc” Savara

Aditya “Doc” Savara, a member of two city boards, is running for Oak Ridge City Council in the November 4 municipal election.

In a press release, Savara said he has been involved in local politics during the past two years and served on the Traffic Safety Advisory Board and the Environmental Quality Advisory Board. Savara said he has attended and commented during public comment periods at City Council meetings, is knowledgeable about the issues facing the city, and has been vocal about them.

“In 2012-2013, an ordinance came before Oak Ridge City Council regarding whether property owners Jack and Myra Mansfield could build a single home on their property in a neighborhood zoned as R1, for single-family dwellings,” Savara said in the release. “Adjacent homeowners asserted property values would drop if the Mansfields were allowed to build a home on the open space. I pointed out that the neighbors could have bought the open property themselves if they wanted to keep it as open space. I stated that the neighbors didn’t want to buy the cow, but wanted to have the milk for free, and that it was not too late for the neighbors to make the Mansfields a fair offer. [Read more…]