Green Texarkana is This Saturday

If you have recyclable items and you don't know what to do with them, or don't want to simply trash them, here is something you might want to consider.

The monthly Texarkana, Ark., recycling event, Green Texarkana, will be held Saturday. Paper, cardboard and plastic will be accepted and may be mixed together for single-stream recycling. Electronics, ink cartridges, plastic film such as grocery bags and small metal such as steel and aluminum cans will be accepted but should be in separate containers whenever possible. These materials go to different processing facilities.

Green Texarkana cannot accept glass, Styrofoam, tires, furniture or hazardous materials including CFLs (fluorescent lights). Residents wanting more information about the city’s CFL recycling program should call 870-779-4946.

Green Texarkana will be held from 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Saturday at East Third and Hazel streets. Bringing items prior to 8 a.m. Saturday and leaving them in the parking lot is considered littering.

Green Texarkana is scheduled the second Saturday of the month, every month, with the only exception being if that is a holiday. In addition to the monthly Green Texarkana program, with the start of 2015 the City of Texarkana, Ark., has officially launched its CFL (compact fluorescent light) recycling program. The program started at the end of last year in pilot form offering free CFL recycling as a way to announce the new recycling option.

The city will accept CFL bulbs and tubes for recycling on Wednesdays. The fee for this service is .15 cents per bulb. Tubes can be recycled for 50 cents each for residents and $1 each for commercial users.

“The fee is a way for us to hopefully offset the cost of processing this hazardous material after we take it in,” said Brandy Lewis, the city’s recycling coordinator. “It is costly to properly dispose of this broken glass and vaporized mercury and a certified company has to come in and do that. Our hope is that these fees will cover that expense," she said.

CFLs can only be accepted on Wednesdays at the Texarkana, Ark., Recycling Center at 2601 Dudley St. The center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CFLs cannot be accepted at the City’s monthly recycling event, Green Texarkana.

For more information call the recycling center at 870-779-4946.t