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HomeMy WebLinkAboutreporter.oct07Aluminum cans and steel cans are baled and trucked to a smelter in Seguin. When the metals are heated in the smelting process, the labels or food remnants are burned up, yield- ing aluminum or steel that can be used in a wide variety of consumer products. Workers and blowers on the convey- ors sort the aluminum cans and three types of plastics, which fall into separate bins. Plastics are bun- dled into three grades and sold to processors that manufacture many items such as landscape timbers, park benches, rakes, chairs, and fibers used in apparel. Glass falls out of holes in the rotating drums and is pulverized. The glass may cycle through the plant sev- eral times before it is reduced to pebble-sized pieces. With the sharp edges removed, the glass pebbles are sold at retail outlets as a landscaping material similar to crushed granite. At the Austin MRF, recycling trucks empty the newspaper compartment into the top of an 18-wheel semi- truck. Each semi-truck can hold about 24 tons of paper that is shipped to a facility in San Antonio for processing, and then to a paper mill in Arizona where it is made into new newsprint. © City of Georgetown, 2007 VOL. 5 • NO. 10 A Publication of the City of Georgetown October 2007 Items from your recycling bin are sorted at the curb into two sec- tions in the recycling truck: one for newspapers and the other for commingled items such as plastic or glass bottles and aluminum or steels cans (also called tin cans). The truck then drives to a materi- al recovery facility (MRF) like the one in south Austin operated by the City of Austin. A MRF is a facility for sorting and processing recyclables. Where do your RECYCLABLES go? Recycling Tips Items accepted:newspapers and magazines, aluminum and steel cans, glass bottles, and plastic bot- tles (#1 or #2) with caps removed. Thoroughly rinse bottles and cans to minimize odors and bugs. Do not use plastic bags for newspa- pers or other items. Items NOT accepted (put these in trash cart):paper milk cartons, coat hangers, plastic bags, pizza boxes, take-out containers, Styrofoam, egg cartons Autumn Happenings The Palace Theater You Can’t Do That, Dan Moody!, weekends (at the Courthouse) Sept. 14 – Oct. 14 Cats, weekends Oct. 12 – Nov. 11 www.TheGeorgetownPalace.org, or call (512) 869-7469. First Friday,October 5 Downtown shops, galleries, and restaurants open 6 – 8 p.m. Market Days,October 13 Handmade arts and crafts, jewelry, woodcrafts, ironworks, and more on the Square. Taste of Georgetown,Oct. 11 Wolf Ranch Town Center, 5:30 to 8 p.m. More than 25 local restau- rants and caterers and 10 regional wineries. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the event. Contact the Downtown Georgetown Association at (512) 868-8675 or dga.mail@verizon.net. Haunted Hayride, Oct. 26 Starts at Community Center in San Gabriel Park, 6 p.m. Details at www.georgetownparks.org. 22 11 66 77 The bottles and cans are emptied into a pile at the commingled sec- tion of the MRF. A front-end loader pushes the materials into a hopper that feeds onto a con- veyor belt. Two workers at the top of the conveyor remove trash items. Verna Browning, Texas Disposal Systems manager in Georgetown and Amy Slagle, solid waste services superintendent at the material recovery facility for the City of Austin, in front of plastic bales at the MRF. The materials enter rotating drums that pull out the steel cans with magnets. The steel cans are sent to a baling machine. 44 33 55 Discover the latest news about the city at www.georgetown.org The transfer truck drives to the Texas Disposal Systems Landfill in Creedmoor, south of Austin. Where does your TRASH go?Pet Expo on Oct. 20 Collection trucks bring the trash to the Transfer Station at 250 W.L. Walden Drive. The trash is emptied into a transfer truck, which can hold two-and-one-half loads from a collection truck. Big dogs and little dogs. Yellow dogs and brown dogs. Jumping dogs and frisbee dogs. You’ll find all sorts of dogs—and lots of playful cats, too—at the 2007 Pet Expo. The organizers of this pet adoption event on October 20 hope that some of the many homeless animals currently in local shelters will find homes through Pet Expo. All four participating shelters and several dog rescue groups will have a wide variety of dogs and cats available for adoption at Pet Expo. Animal lovers and their pets are welcome at this event featuring canine demonstra- tions of skill and a Blessing of the Pets. In a flyball demonstration at Pet Expo, two teams of dogs will compete in a relay race in which each dog must jump hurdles and retrieve a ball at the end of the course. Other demon- strations will include an agility course, trick dogs, and bird dogs. The event is sponsored this year by the Pet Alliance of Central Texas, a newly-formed coalition that includes the City of Georgetown Animal Shelter, the Humane Society of Williamson County, the Central Texas SPCA shelter in Leander, and the Regional Shelter of Williamson County in Georgetown. Pet Expo will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Show Barn in San Gabriel Park, located on E. Morrow Street. Food and drink will be sold at the Expo. For more information, contact the Georgetown Animal Shelter at (512) 930-3592. The Georgetown City Reporter is a publication of the City of Georgetown Public Information Office located in City Hall, 113 E. Eighth Street, Georgetown, Texas, 78626. For questions or comments, contact Keith Hutchinson, Public Information Officer for the City of Georgetown at (512) 930-3690, or by email at pio@georgetowntx.org. More than 3,000 tons of solid waste comes to the landfill each day from Georgetown, Austin, San Antonio, and other cities. A leachate collection system, the landfill walls, and a monitoring system have been engineered to prevent impact to the groundwater. Organic materials such as brush, lumber, food waste, and dead animals are processed in windrows where temperatures of 175 degrees Fahrenheit kill harmful microbes and produce a material rich in nutrients. The resulting compost is available in retail stores such as Garden-Ville, which is a natural gardening out- let owned by Texas Organic Products, a division of Texas Disposal Systems. Methane captured from the land- fill will soon be used to generate electricity, which will supply about 40 homes. 2211 33 Trash is emptied into the landfill where it is compacted and covered with soil. Texas Disposal Systems Landfill The landfill is surrounded by an exotic game reserve that serves as a buffer zone. The reserve is home to herds of wildebeests, gazelles, gemsbok antelopes, zebras, and many other species. For additional information about Texas Disposal Systems, visit their website at www.texas- disposal.com, or contact TDS by phone at (512) 930-1715. A gemsbok antelope, one of many African animals at the game reserve. Library Closed for Inventory Oct. 1 – 5 The Georgetown Public Library will be closed for an annual inventory October 1 – 5. Although no materi- als will be due during these five days, the drive-up book drop on the south side of the building will be open. The Red Poppy Coffee Company also will be closed during this time. A machine called a scarab turns the compost windrows at the landfill. Take me to the Pet Expo! Please.