CRRA to Accept Books, Large Rigid Plastics for Recycling

The Million Residents of CRRA Recycling Towns Can Keep Phone Books, Buckets, Baskets, Bins and Many Other Items out of Trash

HARTFORD, Conn. —Has your bucket got a hole in it?

If you’re singing that old Hank Williams song, or if you’ve got more phone books than phones in your house, there’s good news: residents of the 54 towns—totaling more than 1 million people—that recycle with the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority can now place large rigid plastic items and books in their recycling bins.

Effective immediately, CRRA’s state-of-the-art single-stream recycling facility will accept a number of additional items including   •  large toys,   •  beverage crates,   •  laundry baskets,   •  recycling bins,   •  telephone directories,   •  storage containers and   •  hard-cover books.

Any of these items that fit inside the single-stream barrel can be recycled, provided that
  •  all metals such as bucket handles and wheel axles are separated
     from the plastic items;
  •  all items are rinsed and
  •  covers from hard-cover books are removed and placed in the trash.

In recent years CRRA has launched several initiative designed to increase recycling in Mid-Connecticut communities:
  •  In 2005 CRRA expanded its menu of acceptable items to include
      junk mail, magazines, computer printer paper and other types of
      mixed paper.
  •  In 2008, CRRA introduced to Connecticut single-stream recycling, the
     next generation of recycling, while adding oversized jars and bottles,
     aerosol cans and more types of cardboard to its list of acceptable
      items.
  •  In 2009, CRRA supported the introduction of single-stream recycling
     with a public awareness campaign that featured radio advertisements,
     printed materials and press interviews, along with the sustainability
     education programs it offers at the CRRA Trash Museum. The
     effectiveness of CRRA’s unique combination of education and single-
     stream technology earned a 2012 CQIA Innovation Prize from the
     Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership.
  •  In 2010, CRRA began accepting plastics #3 through #7.
  •  In 2012, CRRA introduced single-stream recycling to towns in
     southwestern Connecticut leading to a jump of almost 24 percent in
      those towns’ recycling tonnages.

A complete breakdown of all items residents of participating communities can recycle, along with instruction on preparing those items for recycling, is on CRRA’s website.

The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority is a quasi-public agency whose mission is to work for – and in – the best interests of the municipalities of the state of Connecticut. CRRA’s board of directors and management team develop and implement environmentally sound solutions and best practices for solid waste disposal and recycling management on behalf of municipalities. CRRA serves 74 Connecticut cities and towns. CRRA also runs award-winning sustainability education programs through the CRRA Trash Museum in Hartford. For more information about CRRA and its activities, visit http://www.crra.org. Computer users can also discuss CRRA on its blog and follow CRRA on Twitter.

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