MOUNT VERNON — After the holidays, the Styrofoam packaging that protects expensive Christmas gifts like computers and televisions can take up a lot of space in the trash. But for the first time, Knox County residents will be able to be kind to the environment and recycle that Styrofoam for free.
It’s a one-day opportunity on Saturday, Dec. 29, and worth remembering. The Board of Knox County Commissioners announced the event, which will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at Rumpke (formerly the Knox County Recycling Center) at 301 Columbus Road. The cardboard box accompanying the Styrofoam can also be recycled.
“There’s a lot of people who want to recycle Styrofoam, like the coolers for food or medicine,” said Mike Hillier of Pak Mail. People often offer Styrofoam to the business for reuse but they can only use “peanuts” and flat pieces or coolers. They cannot use irregular or oversized pieces.
“For years we tried to use it for shipping,” he said, “but there’s so much, we can’t use it and have to throw it away.”
Residents can start saving their Styrofoam-like products today through Christmas and then take the items to Rumpke on Dec. 29. All Styrofoam packaging is welcome at the event, but only non-food/non-beverage items because of the risk of contamination. All tape, paper and covering must be removed, and if recycling Styrofoam peanuts, they should be sealed in plastic bags.
Rumpke generously offered to be the collection site for the polystyrene products that require a special process to be recycled. The Styrofoam collected will be transported to Phoenix Recycling in Columbus for processing.
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