Submitted by Nooksack Valley Disposal & Recycling
Nooksack Valley Disposal & Recycling customers continued to recycle more food waste and yard waste in 2016, enabling the company to surpass more than 6 million pounds of materials recycled for the sixth consecutive year.
The company’s yard waste/food waste recycling rose to 3,468,000 pounds (1,734 tons) in 2016. Also, Nooksack Valley Disposal customers in north Whatcom County recycled 2,539,798 pounds of glass, mixed paper, cardboard, newspaper, plastic, scrap metal, tin cans and aluminum in 2016. This was slightly down from 2015 as an increase in recycling of plastics was offset by declines in newspaper and glass.
“Our average residential customer recycled 837 pounds last year for a total of 6,007,798 pounds,” said Calvin Den Hartog, general manager of Nooksack Valley Disposal. “Thanks to our conscientious residential and business customers who set bins out for collection or bring recyclable material to our Lynden transfer station, we kept 3,004 tons of material out of landfills.”
A breakdown of specific materials recycled is: mixed paper, 714,111 pounds; glass, 632,612 pounds; cardboard, 419,062 pounds; newspaper, 302,163 pounds; plastic, 264,600 pounds; scrap metal, 90,936 pounds; tin cans, 75,842 pounds; and aluminum cans, 32,028 pounds.
Nooksack Valley Disposal, founded by Dan and Steff Leidecker in 1971, serves over 8,000 customers in north Whatcom County, roughly from Interstate 5 east to the foothills of Mt. Baker. Customers in the cities of Lynden, Everson, Nooksack and Sumas may arrange for regular pickup of yard-waste containers and place food scraps and food-soiled papers in their yard-waste containers.
The material is taken to Green Earth Technology of Lynden, which produces compost from the yard and food waste. Yard waste also may be taken to Nooksack Valley Disposal’s transfer station at 250 Birch Bay-Lynden Road in Lynden.
For more information about Nooksack Valley Disposal’s recycling program or pickup service, call (360) 354-3400 or visit www.nvd-inc.com.
