Recycling changes coming to Ripley County

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The Southeastern Indiana Recycling District (SEIRD) announced recently that Ripley County will move to fully separated recycling collection as of December 20 at the Batesville location and on January 2, 2020 at the Osgood location. This move aligns Ripley County with five of SEIRD’s other counties that already practice full separation.

With major shifts in the recycling industry over the past two years, largely due to China no longer accepting most of the world’s recyclable materials, local agencies like SEIRD are continuing to navigate the new landscape and are looking for ways to remain financially responsible. Market prices have spiraled down since the China ban, although separated, clean bales of material are still able to be sold.

Here is a list of the new guidelines:

New guidelines
Separate (keep items clean and dry)
Cardboard (flatten)
Newspaper
Paper (combine office paper, magazines, and paperboard/tubes)
Plastics #1 (bottle and jug shape only)
Plastics #2 (bottle and jug shape only)
Steel cans (beverage, soup, fruit & veg. cans)
Aluminum cans (beverage, soup, fruit & veg. cans)
Clear glass (beverage and food containers only)
Colored glass (beverage and food containers only)

Operating hours for the Ripley County recycling facility (2710 N. Hasmer Hill Rd., Osgood) are Monday and Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 12:00 noon – 6:00 p.m.; and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Additionally, the reuse center is open on the same hours on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Operating hours for the Batesville location (616 John St.) are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon.

SEIRD reports that due to extreme, continual contamination issues, the 24-hour external recycling containers outside of the Batesville facility will no longer exist as of December 20, 2019. Illegal dumping of garbage and other unacceptable refuse led to this decision.

The “new guidelines” list above is the same for the Batesville facility. SEIRD reminds citizens that leaving items outside of any of their facilities is considered illegal dumping and is punishable by law. Adherence to facility guidelines is necessary for the agency to continue their waste management operations.

Flyers with the most up to date information are available at collection facilities and also online at www.seird.org.