Dawson County will celebrate America Recycles Day Saturday, Nov. 14 by waiving tipping fees for bagged household trash at the Transfer Station and Recycling Center.

All residents bringing their recyclables to the station on that day will have the 50 cents per bag fee waived for all bagged household trash only. This does not apply to truckloads or appliances.

According to Keep Dawson County Beautiful Executive Director Cathy Brooks:

“We want to encourage people to recycle year-round.  Waiving the tipping fees for a day is a good way to get people started.”

Brooks said that around 40 percent of all household trash could be recycled. 

“Each of us generates about 4.6 pounds of garbage every day,” she said. 

“Unless it is recycled it goes mostly into our landfills, where it is compacted and buried.  As the waste stream continues to grow, we create pressure on our landfills, our resources and our environment.”

Last year, the amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum and steel cans, plastic PET and glass containers, news print and corrugated packaging was equivalent to:

• The amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in one year.

• 29 percent of nuclear electricity generation in the U.S. in one year.

• 7.9 percent of electricity generation from fossil fuels in the U.S. in one year.

• 11 percent of the energy produced by coal-fired power plants in the U.S.

• The energy supplied from 2.7 percent of imported barrels of crude oil into the U.S.

• The amount of gasoline used in almost 11 million passenger automobiles in one year.

“In Dawson County, recyclable materials may be co-mingled and placed in a single container rather than sorting the materials,” said Brooks.

“Single stream offers our citizens a more convenient way to recycle.  By making the process easier, more citizens can participate,” she said.

The Dawson County Recycling Center accepts glass bottles and jars; newspaper; plastic containers No. 1 through No. 7; aluminum, steel and tin cans; chipboard, such as cereal boxes; cardboard; magazines, phone books and junk mail.

Unacceptable items include spray or aerosol cans of any kind; paint cans; drinking glasses; mirrors; window glass; ceramics, such as plates and coffee mugs; Pyrex dishes; china; light bulbs; and any other non-container glass; coated cardboard; packing materials; items containing non-plastic parts, motor oil or bleach bottles; polystyrene (Styrofoam); molded plastics such as toys, buckets, pails and bins; and food contaminated items like pizza boxes or paper plates.

Additional information on the Dawson County Recycling Center may be found under the Public Works tab at www.dawsoncounty.org.