Recycling in Roanoke County may look a little different that other places, but staff and citizens are dedicated to the cause. I recently had the chance to ride along with David Pittman on his recycling route to see how it’s done.
David covers up to 150 miles in a day, shuttling trailers from six drop-off points around the county to Recycling & Disposal Solutions (RDS.) During my visit, we picked up a trailer from Cox Communications and headed out.
One thing that really stood out was David’s efficiency. He can pull in, check the trailer, and secure it for transport in just about five minutes — though the camera and I did slow him down a bit! The parking lots can be tight, so if you see him with a trailer in tow, be sure to give him some extra space.
The highlight of the day was our visit to RDS. When we arrived, we were greeted by a towering mountain of unsorted recyclables. The video does not do it justice on how large the mound of recycling is, and we dumped even more in! If you want to see what happens to the recycling once the county drops it off, check out this video from RVTV.
Solid Waste Manager Brad Jordan described some of the challenges faced by recycling operations. From plastic bags to flamingo lawn ornaments, people put a lot of things in the trailers that can’t be recycled. A quick tip: breaking down cardboard boxes before placing them in the bin helps keep things running smoothly and prevents overflow.
Em Poertner is Roanoke County's Public Information Specialist. She hosts the Out of the Office podcast and Roam RoCo video series. You can email her at epoertner@roanokecountyva.gov.
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