Recycling in Missoula

住在舊金山灣區, 垃圾分類及回收是一件再習以為常不過的事. 我記得2000年我剛搬到加州時, 當時家家戶戶有三個黃色的塑膠箱子, 分別裝紙類, 玻璃類, 塑膠類, 外加一個專裝機油的塑膠桶和一個專放草屑和落葉的綠色回收桶, 每週一次垃圾車會來收, 幾年前換成一個藍色的大回收桶, 專放所有可回收的垃圾, 由市府單位事後再做分類.  當我得知Missoula沒有垃圾分類和回收的規定 (包括草屑和落葉), 家家戶戶可以把任何垃圾都丟進一個大垃圾桶 (如果你自家有做分類, 你必需將歸類好的回收垃圾, 親自開車到回收處丟放, 不然你要自己另外付費請私人小型回收公司派車來收), 我很驚訝.

Photo by LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian

今天我自己開車到位在3207 West Broadway的Allied Waste recycling center. 看到一個一個藍色鐵製的超大垃圾回收倉, 標明每一個回收倉所回收的種類, 有紙箱, 有報紙雜誌, 有塑膠, 有玻璃, 有鐵罐, 同時和我一樣在回收處的,還有好幾位居民也都開車載著自家的回收垃圾來此地丟放.  我很納悶的是, 如果垃圾車來收垃圾的同時就可以收走回收垃圾, 應該會有更多人加入回收的工作吧, 雖然回收處不遠, 但卻不是很方便啊.

Allied Waste recycling center pays market rates for all metal, cardboard, etc. Accepts all standard recyclables including cardboard, #1 and #2 plastics, aluminum and tin cans, phone books, newspapers and magazines, and glass bottles and jars (no windows, auto glass, etc.) office paper, auto batteries and non-ferrous metals.

Missoula's recycling resources

• Automotive service stations. Call your local station. Most accept used motor oil and antifreeze

• Ozzies Oil Co., 900 Phillips. Call 543-7911. Accepts: Gasoline, diesel, brake fluid, antifreeze, motor oil, and hydraulic fluid.

• BFI, 3207 W. Broadway. Call 721-1120. Accepts: Newspaper, brown paper bags, computer paper, ledger paper, magazines, corrugated cardboard, aluminum cans and scrap, No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, copper, brass, steel cans, auto batteries, curbside used motor oil collection.

• Bike Doctor. Call 721-5357. Offers: bicycle inner tubes.

• Home Resource, 825 W. Kent. 541-8300. Offers: Building materials in easily reusable condition- call for details. Scrap wood 16 inches or longer to turn into shingles. Porcelain (i.e. broken sinks, tubs, etc.)

• Household hazardous waste collection days. Around the middle of September. Accepts: oil-based paint, paint thinners, pesticides, herbicides, chlorinated solvents, PCBs, used photographic chemicals, NiCad batteries. For more information, contact: Missoula City-County Health Department, 301 W. Alder, or call 523-4890. Online: http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/wq

• Pacific Recycling, 2600 Latimoor St. Call 543-7280. Accepts: newspaper, brown paper bags, computer paper, ledger paper, magazines, corrugated cardboard, aluminum cans and scrap, No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, copper, brass, steel cans, appliances (washers, dryers,refrigerators – must have freon removed by local repair shop.)

• Palmer Electric, 2407 Harve Ave. Call 543-3086. Accepts: flourescent light bulbs, ballasts, all computer components and TVs (fee charge).

• Missoula Urban Demonstration Project (MUD), 629 Phillips. Call 721-7513. Offers: Backyard and worm bin and composting information.

• Missoula Valley Recycling, 736 Cooper. Call 543-2972. Offers: Curbside recycling services.

• Missoula Waste Water Treatment Plant, 1100 Clark Fork Dr. Call 523-4883. Accepts: non-used photographic chemicals.

• Recompute Computers, 1425 S. Higgins Ave. Call 543-8287. Accepts: Old computers for recycle.