Recycling center in midtown Tucson moves, announces changes

TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) — A recycling destination for those disposing of glass and plastic bags is making a move on Wednesday, July 30.

The current recycling center across the street from the Ward 6 Tucson City Council office is shifting to just south of Hi Corbett Field.

Some services there will change while others will continue.

Proper recycling means not putting glass and hard-to-recycle plastics, such as bags, in the residential bin. City residents bring them to neighborhood recycling centers.

And even with a new location for the one in Ward 6, that rule stays the same.

Dropping off glass bottles and plastic bags in midtown will require a new destination, and it’s no problem for Nolan Richards.

“It’s once a month, not inconvenient, I have a little pale I put glass in and then take it here,” Richards said.

“When I think of like, dry-cleaning bags and the plastic that surrounds bread, I mean it’s amazing how much you collect,” said Sue Sherrick, who was dropping off plastic bags at the site near Ward 6.

“So the existing site was on loan from the property owner, and they’re going to be needing the property for some of their future developments,” said Cristina Polsgrove, public information officer with City of Tucson Environmental Services.

Hard-to-recycle plastics and glass, along with food waste in the city’s FoodCycle composting program, will be collected south of Hi Corbett Field on Randolph Way. The items that can already be placed in residential blue bins will not be collected here.

“We were seeing an awful lot of abuse of the site,” Polsgrove said.

Polsgrove explained that overuse by residents and businesses, and not breaking down boxes for recycling, became excessive at the site.

“If they have excess cardboard, excess recycling, because Tucson is a recycling city, it really is. People want to do it and they participate, our residents can get a second recycle bin at no charge,” Polsgrove said.

Hard-to-recycle plastics are used for the ByFusion block program. Sherrick said that she ventures from the northeast side to get rid of her bags and will continue to seek places to do so.

“All the plastic that you can’t put normally in the bins, I get a huge bag every week. So, I think it’s really important that they’re recycling it,” Sherrick said.

“I love it. Getting the glass out of the trash and all that other stuff,” Richards said.

The other City of Tucson neighborhood recycling centers are at the following locations:

• Los Reales Sustainability Campus, 5300 E. Los Reales Rd.
• Ward 2 Council Office, 7820 E Broadway Blvd
• Ward 5 Council Office, 4300 S. Park Ave.
• West Tucson,1925 S. San Antonio Dr. (behind Tucson Fire Dept., Station 15)

Residents outside the city are not supposed to use these locations. Pima County has listed landfill and waste transfer locations HERE.

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