Recycling options expand on Whidbey
Whidbey Island residents can now (or soon) recycle more items. A Styrofoam recycling program began recently at the Coupeville Recycling Center and Freeland’s Island Recycling, the latter of which was acquired by DTG Enterprises in February. Styrofoam can be dropped off, free of charge, at both locations. Recycled Styrofoam can be used in outdoor furniture, roofing tiles, coat hangers, seedling containers, door and window frames, picture frames and packing peanuts, among other things.
Mattresses are accepted for recycling in Coupeville and Freeland. Each mattress or box spring will cost $35 to recycle. DTG says over 90% of a mattress can be repurposed. The wood is recycled with urban wood waste from construction and used as alternative energy to fuel paper mills (ie it is burned). The foam is used to make carpet padding, the metal springs are recycled along with other recovered metal and the textile is either baled and shipped, or ground and utilized, in industrial absorbent materials.
According to the South Whidbey Record, “It’s very rare I see a community so excited about recycling,” Ryan Jackman, Chief Growth Officer for DTG Recycle said of Whidbey Island.
Check out DTG’s website to learn about other materials the company recycles and what happens to the plastic they collect.
