Rise of online holiday shopping leads to spike in traffic at recycling centers

GREENE COUNTY — The popularity of online shopping this year has resulted in an influx of cardboard at recycling companies.

Workers at the Greene County Environmental Services are seeing a recycling boom.

“Everyone took advantage of ordering online this holiday season,” said Dana Doll, Greene County Environmental Services manager. “Now they’re cleaning up and bringing us all of those cardboard boxes.”

Its not just boxes that can be recycled in Greene County; Christmas trees and holiday lights can also be dropped off.

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Christmas trees must be dropped off without decorations on them because the facility will be grinding them up into mulch. Residents will then be able to come to the facility and pick up that mulch for personal use.

Holiday lights can be dropped off in special bins so they can be recycled by themselves.

Doll warned that not everything can be dropped off and recycled.

“Anything that had a foil wrapping on it, as well as bows and other ribbons,” Doll said. “That’s a contamination that can wrap around the company’s equipment that recycle these materials.”

Cox Media Group