Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful opens new facility in Machesney Park

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ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO The Journal
KNIB Board members and dignitaries applaud that the new recycling facility is officially open for busi-ness.

By Anne Eickstadt

EDITOR

“We are opening a second location in the north end of our area because there is a definite need to service the people who want to recycle items,” said Jean Lopez, Events & Communications Coordinator for KNIB (Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful). “KNIB is all donation based, so we have many volunteers. Our hours are limited to what times the volunteers have available and when they can come in.” Machesney Park recycling hours are: Wednesday 2 to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.

The new facility is strategically located at 8409 N. 2nd St. where it can be easily seen from IL-Route 251 as vehicles pass by, just south of the Route 173/251 intersection.

The event was well attended with KNIB Board and staff in attendance for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony along with Machesney Park Mayor Steve Johnson, Loves Park Mayor Greg Jury, South Beloit Mayor Ted Rehl, Miss Teen Illinois 2020 Madison Hawn, Miss Winnebago County Fair Ambassador Joie Vittenow, and representatives from The Parks and local businesses.

“We’re excited to be on the north side,” said Executive Director Pamela Osborne. “This building belongs to Bahr Iron & Metal, an Alter Co. They’ve taken really good care of us here.”

“The City of Loves Park is happy to see KNIB expand their services to the Loves Park community. Their new location provides a vital service to our residents.”

Machesney Park Mayor Steve Johnson said, “This is a great event for our community. It is such a needed thing. Machesney Park is a young community experiencing rapid retail and residential growth, so the recycle need is huge. This location is extremely busy and that is what we want. The facility is such a great fit here.”

KNIB is hosting a clothing drive on Sept. 12, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at multiple locations: three Farm & Fleet stores at 4567 E. Rockton Ave. Roscoe; 7300 E. Riverside, Loves Park; and 4725 W. State St. Rockford; and also at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, 3300 Rural St. Rockford. These locations are only accepting clothing. Please place the clothing in plastic bags, remain in your car, and the volunteers will remove the items from your vehicle.

KNIB has been serving the Northern Illinois Stateline since 1988, providing environmental education to youth and adults and organizing events to promote waste reduction, recycling, litter prevention, and beautification.

They have recently posted “A Refresher: Ways to Recycle More Plastics” on their Facebook page:

Recycling confusion is so common that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that even though nearly 75 percent of the waste in the United States is recyclable, we only recycle about 30 percent of it.

To help you play your part in circularity by recycling, here are some tips for how you can recycle even more plastic.

  1. What to do with plastic bottles

When it comes to plastic bottles – meaning the neck is skinnier than the body – recycling is easy. Whether large, small, wide or skinny, plastic bottles typically go into the recycling bin.

  1. What’s the deal on plastic caps?

Recyclers usually want your bottle caps, but unless they’ve been twisted back onto a bottle, they can fall through spaces in recycling equipment. So before tossing into the blue bin, make sure caps are screwed on. It’s also important to squeeze the bottle or wash it to remove as much of the bottle’s original contents as possible.

  1. Most plastic containers make the cut

Plastic containers and lids are a bit trickier. While bottles are usually collected for recycling, yogurt containers or butter tubs may or may not be collected in your local community. KNIB will take clean plastic with the numbers 1-7 on them. To find this number, look on the plastic container, usually on the bottom. There will be three arrows in the shape of a triangle with a number in it. If the number is a 1 – 7, then we will take it.

  1. Recycle plastic bags while shopping

Plastic sandwich bags, produce bags, grocery bags, and more flexible plastic products can get caught in the sorting equipment at recycling facilities, so they are not collected in most curbside collection programs. But thousands of grocery stores and retailers like Target, Walmart, and Lowe’s will collect plastic bags and wraps for recycling. (Check for a bin at the store entrance.) Find a drop off location near you that will take them off your hands the next time you’re out shopping.

  1. When in doubt, leave it out

The tips provided above should make recycling plastics a whole lot easier. But when you’re not sure whether you should recycle something, either check online to see what your community recycles or leave it out of the bin. Yes, there is a downside to guessing. Plastic items like old videocassette tapes, garden hoses, CDs and bowling balls do more than take up space. They can damage expensive recycling equipment or contaminate an otherwise valuable stream of recyclable material and make it unusable. When in doubt, leave it out.

  1. Skip the baggage

Contrary to popular belief, you should not bag up your recyclables before placing them in your blue bin. When plastic bags enter the recycling facility, they can shut down the sorting machines. So, skip the plastic garbage bag next time you recycle, and place your recyclable items loosely in your recycle bin.

For a complete list of recyclable items, visit www.knib.org and click the tab for the Recycling Center.

 

 

 
 
 
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