Recycling and what not to do

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucsonans are learning about where your trash goes after it gets picked up.

City locals joined a tour hosted by the City of Tucson Environmental and General Services Department. The tour included the Los Reales Sustainability Campus and the Republic Services Materials Recovery Facility.

Starting at the Recycling Facility- Owen Daly-Forseth shared what people living in the city should know about recycling.

“Here in Tucson we do single stream recycling. So that means all of our materials whether it’s made out of paper, plastic, or even metal, we accept them all in the same blue bin,” said Daly-Forseth with the Environmental Education Exchange.

He said items that are contaminated shouldn’t be recycled. “We want to make sure that when we are recycling that it’s empty, clean, and dry.”

One person who joined the tour, Paige Corach-Kleim, shared what she enjoyed about the tour.

“I thought it was interesting that about 25% of the material that comes through this facility is actually garbage and we just don’t know what’s recyclable and what isn’t,” she said.

Plastic, paper, metal, and cardboard are all items that can be recycled. Styrofoam should not be recycled, that goes into the trash.

That’s where the next stop was- at the Los Reales Landfill. Since 1967 the landfill has been getting filled and it has many years ahead.

“This landfill has a lifespan of about 65 years left,” said Frank Bonillas, the Environmental Services Landfill Administrator.

Frank Bonillas shared how Tucsonans can guarantee and maybe stretch that time.

“If people can do a lot of diversions right now if they can reuse or donate materials, then I think that would be beneficial for the whole lifespan of this landfill and the community in general,” said Bonillas.