Local recycling enters a new era

One era of recycling on the Hi-Line has ended, but another has begun.

Recycle Hi-Line, which five years ago started a citywide recycle drive, held for several years now on the third Saturday of each month at Pacific Recycling in Havre, is ending that tradition.

But the recycling is continuing, with Pacific setting up bins people can access to drop off recyclables 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Wanda Meredith of Recycle Hi-Line said the nonprofit hopes the astounding response to the recycling efforts will continue.

"I hope doing the drives has begun to develop a small culture change and habit that will not only continue into the future, but more importantly, continue to grow," she said.

Trent Nystrom, yard foreman for Pacific Steel and Recycling in Havre, said the company has set up a drive-through section of its yard where people can come through and drop off recyclables around the clock.

He said staffing issues and cost-effectiveness made holding the Saturday drives monthly throughout the year difficult, but Pacific wants to continue to support the recycling effort.

"As a community service, we like to offer it," he said.

Meredith said if the support for the monthly drives is any indication, the support for recycling should continue strong.

"Our October drive was over-the-top crazy," she said. "We had people waiting for us to open the gate at 8:30 and the parking lot was constantly full. I do not remember having no one waiting in the turning lane on the highway for room to pull in, and I believe there was as many as nine cars waiting."

Nearly a decade-long push

Recycle Hi-Line started nine years ago, at the tail end of discussions on moving the Tri-County Landfill from its former location about 10 miles east of Havre to its location just east of town.

Meredith said the group had its first meeting in May 2008 and it received its official 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2012.

She said it was started by a group of local residents with a common goal of bringing more recycling opportunities to the Hi-Line.

The mission of Recycle Hi-Line is to decrease the amount of recyclable commodities in the landfill by 1) increasing recycling awareness in north-central Montana through education, 2) developing partnerships and recycling activities, and 3) seeking funding to create sustainable programs or expand existing recycling opportunities, she said.

"I would also like to emphasize that we would not be in the place we are without the initial foresight and drive from our 'founding fathers' Candi Zion and Terry Turner," Meredith added.

The group began working to educate the community on the importance and ease of recycling, and soon teamed up with Havre Pride to hold recycling drives during the twice-annual citywide cleanup.

Aug. 5, 2012, was the start of Recycle Hi-Line's monthly recycle drive, originally held on the corner of First Street and Fifth Avenue. Meredith said the event soon outgrew that location, and moved to the Holiday Village Mall parking lot.

"In April of 2014 the management at Pacific offered their space to hold the drives, which worked out really well," Meredith said. "And, even though they were only open on Saturdays in the summer, they have continued to be open the Saturday of each drive. This partnership has been critical to our success."

She said volunteers working at the drives have been a large part of their success, as well, including groups like Boy Scout troops and 4-H clubs coming to help.

"It was always wonderful on two accounts," she said, "having young people there to help, while having the opportunity to educate them about recycling."

The volunteers always worked to get people through as quickly as possible, she said.

"The volume of traffic was terrific but overwhelming at times," Meredith added.

She said the drives typically had 10 to 20 volunteers working, but often could have used more.

And the amount brought in was huge - Meredith said that last year, the estimate of recyclables brought in during the drives was 78 tons.

"We always felt like this was a huge success, however, our local landfill receives approximately 95 tons of refuse reflects how much more work we have to do as a community. Certainly not all waste is recyclable, however lots of items are.”

Moving to 24/7 recycling

Recycle Hi-Line and Pacific both said the next step — the all-day drive-through recycling site at Pacific — is something both entities wanted to move to.

“I believe the 24-hour opportunity will be easier for many people,” Meredith said. “As a society, we are so busy with jobs, running kids around, sports, etc. it will be easier. Additionally, we have quite a few people who bring items from far away and many times they have to make a special trip. Now, any time they are coming to town, they can simply bring their recyclables along.”

Nystrom said it also means people won’t have to save recyclables for a month to bring to the drive, and people won’t have to schedule coming to the drive to do recycling. Now people can drop it off any time.

“They can just swing by after work and drop it off,” he said.

Pacific has some temporary bins set up in the lane now, and the company has bought some permanent bins which are being put together at Montana State University-Northern. The closed-top bins, with slots in them through which people can deposit their recyclables, should be on site in a couple of weeks, he said.

Pacific will continue to accept paper, cardboard, aluminum, tin and steel, he said, and bins will be in place to take plastic and glass, which will be taken for recycling by Recycle Hi-Line.

And other recycling opportunities are also in place.

Meredith said one is through an agreement set up by Pacific and Havre Mayor Tim Solomon. A bin is set up at Memorial Park on Fifth Avenue to drop off recycling. Northern and Havre Day Activities also work on recycling.

Havre Day has a 24-hour drop-off for cardboard at its recycling center on First Street West and, during its 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. hours of operation, will pay to accept aluminum and car batteries. The workers also shred documents at a charge of 32 cents per pound.

At Northern, the Sustainability Program implemented a campuswide recycling effort about 10 years ago and extends its work into the community, taking the plastics collected and sending them off for recycling.

On-Campus Sustainability Manager Jamie Underwood said some of the plastics have to be sent off to New York state for recycling as few plastic recycling facilities are in operation across the nation.

He said the operation, which is run by voluntary student employees and funded by the student senate, cleans up across the campus, with collection points set up in key areas. The recyclables are typically collected at the end of the week, although mid-week collections are held as necessary and the operations also change a bit over the summer.

Paper and cardboard collected on the campus is usually taken to Pacific or Havre Day, he said.

He added that as more people learn about the program, the more they use it.

“It has grown as more people have become aware,” Underwood said.

An ongoing effoert

Meredith said Recycle Hi-Line will continue its work to promote and support recycling along with what it does through the drive-through lane.

“We will continue to do educational presentations, brochures with updated information are on their way, and we will continue to assist anyone or a business who wants to make recycling a part of their routine,” she said. “Some of the barriers in recycling is the fluctuating market demand, value of commodities and the great distance many items have to be shipped in order to reach end-use. We will continue to look for options to help our community.”

While having the monthly drive was good for some people, for example people who would have difficulty unloading items who could wait in their cars while volunteers did the work, Meredith said the new program has advantages.

One problem was the small window of opportunity the monthly drives gave, she said. If someone was going to be out of town or had another schedule conflict that morning they either had to find someone else to deliver their items or store them for another month.

“It was really great that sometimes people would come in with a large quantity and tell us they missed the last two drives or something,” she added. “They could have just given up and tossed it all in the trash, but instead waited until they were able to bring their recyclables.”

She added that one of the barriers from the standpoint of the volunteers and Pacific employees was the weather.

“We were out there every month, rain or shine, and only canceled one drive due to the weather,” Meredith said. “The weather forecast was something like minus-26, and we felt it was not wise to risk the safety of our volunteers.”

Meredith added that, along with the work and desire of local recyclers and the volunteers who have worked to make the dreams of Recycle Hi-Line a success, the help of community partners has been key.

“Pacific Steel and Recycling, Walmart, and MSU-Northern Sustainability have been critical partners; Kim Cripps welcomed us to join her during the Havre Pride events — without all these components our job would have been much more difficult, if not impossible,” Meredith said. “Through the tireless effort of all of our volunteers, we have accomplished so much.”