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RecycleMania Scheduled This Weekend

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Community members in Athens and the surrounding area will have the opportunity to bring recyclable items and donations to the RecycleMania Community Recycling Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Athens County Fairgrounds.

Sponsored by Habitat for Humanity ReStore, ReUse Industries, Accurate IT, Information Destruction Services, Compost Exchange, Athens-Hocking Recycling Center, ePaint Recycling and Ohio University Campus Recycling, the event will accept difficult-to-recycle items and gently used donations. Everything from electronics and building supplies to clothes, furniture and Styrofoam packaging are welcome to be dropped off. All recycling services are free with the exception of non-flat screen televisions and monitors, which require a $20, cash only fee.

In addition, shredding services will be available for confidential documents. Tires and hazardous chemicals will not be accepted.

The event is part of Ohio University’s eight-week RecycleMania initiative, which aims to promote waste reduction activities and educate campus audiences about recycling programs. RecycleMania began as a friendly competition between Ohio University and Miami University in 2001 and has grown with more than 300 participating colleges and universities across the United States and Canada.

Ohio University Recycling and Refuse Manager Andrew Ladd is expecting a large turnout for the community event.

“Just as we aim to educate and promote recycling on campus, the RecycleMania Community Day is a perfect opportunity to do the same thing within the greater community,” Ladd said. “The recycling services the co-sponsors will provide cover a wide range of items and many of the re-usable items will be donated.”

Ladd said that last year’s community recycling event collected more than 13 tons of electronic waste and by expanding the categories of items accepted, as well as moving the location of the event to the fairgrounds, he anticipates the March 28 event will surpass that total.

Ladd, who has organized similar events in other communities, says he is particularly excited to add opened paint to the list of accepted items.

“Opened paint is something that very few people know what to do with,” Ladd said. “ePaint Recycling is an innovative company that reconstitutes old paint into useable product. They deliver recycled paint product to Habitat for Humanity’s Athens ReStore on W. Union and when we found out that they could time a delivery for the weekend of the event, it made sense to close the loop and invite them to participate.”

Zachary Holl, executive director at ReUse Industries, noted that it’s important to encourage people to recycle and re-use by providing convenient opportunities to do so.

“An event like this gives people a convenient way to donate their unwanted items while supporting ReUse Industries’ creative waste diversion and training programs focusing on repairing, upcycling and recycling,” Holl said. “We are always happy to support re-users in the communities we serve.”

For information and a complete list of accepted items, visit www.ohio.edu/recycle.