Silver City, NM - Recycling services in Silver City are being upgraded to achieve greater efficiency and provide better service. The Town of Silver City Public Works Department will be collecting all recycling from most businesses outside of the downtown area. The town now has two blue trucks with the recycling signs on the side that are dedicated to pick up recycling. Silver City businesses that receive a lot of cardboard can recycle it in new plastic tubs purchased by the town. These green tubs hold 450 gallons and are similar to the black ones that some businesses currently have for trash. Businesses can save money on their trash service by recycling since there is no additional charge for the recycling.

Southwest Solid Waste Authority will still process the recycling at the recycling center at the landfill. Last year over 350 tons of cardboard was collected. Cardboard is baled separately from other recyclable items and sold to paper mills at market price which is currently over $100 a ton. In order to get top dollar the cardboard should be clean and not contaminated with other materials. Cardboard boxes should be broken down so that they will fit in the tubs.

Cardboard recycling has been a major success with over 90 % of the manufactured cardboard being recycled. There is a strong demand for the paper pulp derived from old corrugated cardboard boxes. It is widely used to make more cardboard boxes. The other two large uses for recycled cardboard are the paper lining on drywall and in paperboard products. These are easily recognized as the gray paper that is used to make such things as cereal boxes and beverage carriers.

After upgrading the commercial recycling program the next step will be to upgrade the residential curbside recycling program. The current recycling bins, averaging 25 gallons in size, are manually collected but they will be replaced with 65 gallon carts that can also be picked up with the town recycling trucks. The carts will begin to be delivered to residents the last week of this month. Most downtown locations will continue to be serviced by Southwest Solid Waste Authority with manual pickup of recycling as is currently done.

Businesses that wish to get a cardboard recycling tub should call Public Works at 575-388-4640. For general additional information about recycling contact the Office of Sustainability at 575-519-8987.