By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Fun fact: on the bottom of all plastic containers, there is a triangle with a number in it. If that number happens to be a one or a two, Sunflower Diversified Services in Great Bend can now recycle it. Executive Director Shelby Zuniga said that's one of two big changes with the organization's recycling services.
"There are a lot of No. 2s that are colored plastics like the laundry detergent contains and coffee containers, things like that, that we were not able to take before that we can take now," she said.
The other big change involves cardboard. Sunflower took in a considerable amount of non-corrugated cardboard, like cereal boxes and beverage containers. With the close of a nearby mill and decreased prices in the market at large, Sunflower now accepts only corrugated cardboard.
"Back in the beginning of March, the Sonoco mill in Hutchinson closed down," Zuniga said. "Unexpectedly, one day, corporate came in and said you're done. That is where we took a majority of our material."
That closure has also impacted the city of Larned's recycling, which took its recycled materials to Sunflower for processing. Sunflower has switched to Quincy Recycling of Quincy, Ill., which handles materials from Colorado to the Appalachian Mountains. Zuniga said one new mill has opened on the east coast, with another opening in September. They will eventually work their way west to accept materials, and Zuniga hopes that will open the market back up for non-corrugated material.
"We're going to do everything we can to find a source to be able to move it again soon," she said. "But, we also want to remind people there are a lot of other items on the list that are recyclable that they might not be recycling currently."
Those items include tin cans, aluminum cans, and even metal pie plates. Sunflower staff asks that they can be rinsed prior to recycling. An updated list of accepted and not-accepted items can be found on Sunflower’s Facebook page or CLICKING HERE.