COLUMBUS – Bartholomew County is set to discontinue its commercial cardboard and office paper recycling program, effective September 8, as Rumpke Waste & Recycling prepares to launch a new commercial recycling facility at the county landfill.
Heather Siesel, director of the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District, stated that operating the current program, which serves approximately 230 business customers and began in 1994, is no longer fiscally responsible.
The district will now partner with Rumpke Waste & Recycling, which will operate a new commercial recycling facility at the landfill on County Road 450S. This new facility will accept separated cardboard, as well as other mixed materials, including paper, plastic, glass, and metal. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin later this month, with an anticipated opening this fall.
According to Rumpke, commercial cardboard collected at the new facility will be transported to their recycling facility in Medora, where it will be baled and then sent to Indiana manufacturers for reuse. Mixed recyclables will be processed at Rumpke’s recycling facility in Cincinnati.
Once the new facility opens, commercial deliveries to the Columbus and Bartholomew County Recycling Center on Mapleton Street in Columbus will cease.
Siesel confirmed that these changes will not impact residential recycling services within the county.
