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Description
Aiken This Week visits recycling partner Dumpster Depot to discuss the relationship between Dumpster Depot and the City of Aiken, and to share changes to the City's recycling program that take effect January 9, 2017.
Guests include:
• Norman Dunagan, Founder of Dumpster Depot
• Sarah Herring, City of Aiken Public Works
A
Welcome
to
Aiken
this
week,
I
memory
Langston.
Today
we
are
going
to
be
talking
about
recycling,
our
partners
in
recycling
and
some
upcoming
changes
to
the
recycle
schedule
for
the
city
of
Aiken
I'm
being
joined
today
by
Sarah
hearing
he's
with
our
public
works
department
at
the
city
of
Aiken
and
Norman
Dunnigan
with
dumpster
depot
Norman.
Thank
you
so
much
for
hosting
us
today
in
your
facility.
It's.
A
It's
it's
a
massive
facility
and
it's
a
very
interesting
place
to
visit
for
sure
so.
I
know
that
both
of
you
are
very
passionate
about
recycling
recycling
efforts,
getting
education
out
about
recycling
and
what
the
city
and
dumpster
Depot
do
together.
So,
let's
talk
for
just
a
minute
about
the
relationship
and
the
partnership
that
we
have
together.
Okay,.
B
Great
well,
you
know,
I
think
our
partnership
started
mainly
just
by
trying
to
cooperate
with
each
other
when
we
weren't
doing
recycling,
but
as
we
started
to
recycle,
we
were
hitting
some
conferences
together
and,
of
course,
that's
where
I
saw
that
she
had
the
same
passion
that
I
had
and
I.
Think
that's
something
for
this
important
for
everyone
to
know.
Is
that
not
only
are
we
here
doing
the
work
each
and
every
day,
but
every
opportunity
we
get
we're
at
any
conference.
B
We
can
find
to
make
sure
that
we
know
any
upcoming
and
new
changes
that
are
coming
with
recycling
and
it's
important
to
know
that
recycling
10
years
ago
is
very
different
than
recycling.
Today,
10
years
ago
it
was
extremely
cumbersome.
You
had
to
separate
each
item
into
a
separate
bin.
If
you
threw
away
a
plastic
bottle,
you
had
to
take
off
the
cap.
If
you
had
wrapping
paper,
you
need
to
take
off
the
tape.
All
those
things
have
gone
away.
B
C
From
the
city's
standpoint,
you
know,
we've
been
recycling
for
25
years
now,
and
the
whole
process
was
just
kind
of
dormant
and
everything
and
then
meeting
Norman
and
seeing
how
passionate
he
is
and
how
knowledgeable
he
is.
It
didn't
take
long
to
figure
out.
My
best
move
was
to
partner
up
with
this
guy.
A
C
B
Important
to
know
that
we
did
make
a
large
investment
to
work
with
the
city,
but
our
ultimate
goal
was
just
to
better
serve
all
of
our
customers,
and
we
look
at
you
as
a
customer,
but
also
we've
got
all
of
these
commercial
industrial
customers.
They
needed
the
same
technology,
so
the
partnership
with
working
with
the
city
of
Aiken
has
allowed
us
to
better
serve
our
customers,
we're
providing
for
mid
and
small
sized
businesses.
What
normally
is
only
available
for
extremely
large
cities
or
really
large
companies?
B
So
we're
very
proud
of
the
efforts
that
we've
made
while
love
is
following
up
with
a
legacy
of
the
city
of
Aiken,
the
city
of
Aiken
was
the
first
in
the
state
to
start
recycling.
It
only
seems
right
that
we
continue
that
effort
with
making
the
investment
for
the
sortation
line
and
always
see
an
increased
recycle
rates
throughout
the
city.
I
believe
that,
knowing
that
sara
is
working
on
the
city
side-
and
we
have
me
working
on
the
private
side-
I
think
that
the
city
is
in
great
hands.
I.
A
Couldn't
agree
more
and
it's
such
a
win-win
situation
and
talking
to
you
both
you
know
and
knowing
your
passion
and
norm,
knowing
the
innovation
that
y'all
are
doing
and
bring
in
that
and
having
that
partnership,
it's
just
a
real
win-win
situation
over
the
city.
I
think
so
I
agree
what
you
were
talking
about
the
recyclables
itself,
so,
let's,
let's
kind
of
drill
down
on
that,
just
for
a
second.
What
is
a
recyclable
yeah.
B
Well,
it's
defined
in
a
lot
of
terms.
One
thing
I
think
is
important.
Understand
is
just
because
something
is
recyclable
doesn't
mean
that
it
makes
sense
for
a
material
recovery
facility.
What
we're
trying
to
do
is
again
we're
looking
at
a
hundred
percent
of
the
waste,
this
creative
in
the
city
of
Aiken
all
right
out
of
that.
What
are
the
easy
things
to
pull
out?
That
makes
the
largest
difference
so
earlier.
B
In
our
conversations
we
talked
about
that
plastic
cutlery
where
is
recycle
is
made
of
plastic,
but
in
the
scope
of
things
we
could
collect
every
one
of
them
and
it's
not
going
to
make
a
difference
on
landfill
airspace.
Compare
that
to
a
jug,
a
laundry
detergent
jug.
This
is
something
that
has
a
ton
of
airspace.
It
does
not
compact
easily
and
we
don't
want
these
things
in
our
landfill,
but
yet
we're
only
collecting
about
sixteen
percent
of
these
things
that
are
being
used
in
the
city
of
Aiken.
B
A
That
is
so
important
to
talk
about
the
whole
scope
of
recycling
is
big
and
it's
much
bigger
than
folks.
Think,
and
you
make
such
a
great
point
about.
You
know
the
future
in
the
and
the
land
use
that
that's
currently
being
taken
in
the
steps
that
we're
doing
and
working
together.
You
know
we're
going
to
have
a
huge
impact.
They
have
huge
impacts
now,
but
also
down
the
road
right
before.
B
We
move
I
want
to
definitely
cap
on
what
you
just
said:
recycling
touches
people
in
so
many
different
ways.
There
are
people
who
believe
in
environmentalism
who
do
not
want
to
see
things
discarded
incorrectly,
but
there's
a
business
behind
recycling
that
I
think
that
people
really
need
to
understand.
A
lot
of
people
are
not
aware
that
the
recycling
industry
today
is
larger
than
the
automotive
industry
in
the
United
States.
B
B
The
material
makes
it
into
a
raw
material
that
a
manufacturer
uses
to
make
something
that
gets
sold
retail
at
the
end,
so
you
can
bury
something
which
may
take
14
15
people
to
bury
forever,
or
you
can
put
it
back
into
our
economy
and
put
hundreds
of
people
to
work
in
the
United
States
to
me,
I,
don't
know
of
anything
more
patriotic
than
to
make
sure
that
your
waste
gets
a
second
round.
It.
B
Well,
I'll
tell
you
just
looking
here
would
be
a
great
example.
Obviously,
anything
made
of
paper
goes
to
paper
mills.
It
gets
made
back
into
either
new
paper
paper,
towels,
toilet
tissue,
facial
tissue,
many
different
items,
milk
jugs
and
any
kind
of
food
cartons
goes
to
be
reground.
It
could
be,
they
can
become
a
dashboard
for
your
vehicle.
It
can
become
the
carpet
on
your
floor,
there's
so
many
things
that
this
can
be
made
into
number
one
plastics.
This
is
something
interesting.
This
is
amazing
to
me.
B
Four
of
these
plastic
bottles
can
make
a
shirt
I'm,
not
sure
if
it'll
make
my
shirt,
but
four
bottles
make
a
t-shirt.
That's
pretty
impressive!
A
lot
of
people
don't
understand
that
clothes
are
made
of
plastic
today,
because
polyester,
it's
made
of
plastic
paper
here
again
can
be
back
into
newspaper
again
or
it
could
go
to
facial
tissue.
Aluminum,
obviously,
is
one
of
the
most
recyclable
items,
aluminum
cans
to
be
me
back
into
an
aluminum
can
within
14
days,
so
you
give
it
to
us
within
14
days.
B
It
can
be
an
aluminum
can
on
the
shelf
again
very
important.
This
is
also
important
about
aluminum.
Aluminum
is
made
of
something
called
bauxite.
There
is
no
more
box
like
the
United
States.
We
have
mined
every
piece
of
box
like
we
have
so
today.
What
we
do
is
we
buy
bauxite
from
overseas.
We
ship
it
here.
We
make
aluminum
cans
out
of
it,
but
still
at
a
thirty-six
percent
rate,
we
throw
it
in
the
landfill.
We
haven't
learned
our
lesson.
B
We've
got
to
make
sure
that
we're
using
the
resources
that
we're
given
and
then,
of
course
down
on
the
left.
We've
got
ten
cans
and
I
know
how
many
ten
cans
are
sold
in
a
grocery
store.
I
work
for
frito-lay,
so
I've
seen
a
lot
of
this.
We
are
not
collecting
near
the
metal
cans
that
we
should
be
right.
B
So
if
you
work
at
an
institution
that
throws
away
metal
cans
if
you're
in
the
prison
system-
and
you
see
where
this
is
coming
into
the
commissary-
if
you
are
at
just
at
home
and
you're,
making
a
Campbell
Soup
make
sure
that
gets
washed
out
and
put
into
your
recycling.
Let's
don't
throw
away
resources
that
can
be
used
as
something
else
and.
A
B
I
think
an
interesting
fact
is,
first
of
all,
it
needs
to
be
disposed
of
properly
and
when
I
say
properly,
it
either
needs
to
come
to
a
recycling
facility
or
to
a
landfill.
The
last
thing
we
want
is
this
to
get
to
our
stormwater
system,
so
definitely
no
littering
make
sure
it
goes
to
the
appropriate
place.
We're
going
to
be
good
stewards
of
this
material.
A
C
The
reason
for
the
changes
is
actually
kind
of
multifaceted.
First
of
all,
we
had
a
huge
change
last
year
in
the
fact
that
we
lost
inmates
are
inmate
labor.
You
know,
you're
talking
about
an
individual
that
cost
us
ten
dollars
a
day
has
to
be
replaced
with
a
man.
That's
ten
dollars
an
hour
and
that's
expensive,
especially
when
you're
talking
about
six
of
them.
So
we
started
thinking.
Okay,
how
do
we?
How
do
we
adjust
and
not
break
the
bank?
C
C
Let's
make
sure
that
this
makes
sense,
so
we
actually
went
out
and
looked,
and
we
found
that
most
often
the
recycling
cart
was
only
half
full
anyway
or
you
talked
to
my
drivers
and
you
find
that
most
of
them
automatically
are
already
doing
this
and
only
putting
it
out
every
other
week.
So
it
was
either
hey.
C
A
C
I
mean
it's
wonderful
that
we
have
this
here
behind
us
again.
Norman
kind
of
already
touched
through
some
of
this
with
us,
but
your
plastics
at
everybody
gets
hung
up
in
the
ones
and
twos
throw
all
that
out.
Ignore
that
what
we
want
our
jars,
jugs
and
bottles
if
it
fits
into
that
category,
put
it
in
your
recycling,
cart
and.
B
C
Know
the
days
of
you
got
to
take
the
cap
off
and
that's
a
pain.
No,
that's
gone.
You
don't
have
to
do
that
anymore.
So
those
are
the
plastic
items
we
want.
We
don't
want
your
plastic
cutlery,
we
don't
want
the
solo
cups,
we
don't
want
your
bags,
the
Ziploc
bags
or
you're.
You
know
any
of
your
food.
Yes,
it's
plastic,
but
it's
not
recycled
here.
Yeah.
B
That's
first
of
all,
going
to
reduce
the
amount
of
plastic
which
is
by
the
way
that's
part
of
recycling
is
reducing
the
amount
that
you
use
and
a
paper
bag
can
come
right
through
our
facility,
be
baled
with
our
cardboard
and
made
into
something
new
again
or
bring
your
own
bag,
which
again
reduces
the
use
of
both
of
those
items.
So
we'd
love
to
see
people
move
more
towards
that,
something
that
is
troublesome
to
the
health
of
our
employees.
Our
people
think
that
syringes
from
needles
are
recyclable.
B
C
All
your
plastics
we
want
to
at
this
point
and
of
course,
your
aluminum
cans.
You
know
people
here
metals.
What
we
want
are
your
aluminum
cans
and
your
steel
or
10
cans.
That's
what
we
want
in
the
recycling.
Don't
want
your
radiator,
don't
want
any
of
that
stuff
I
mean
we.
Can
the
city
can
deal
with
it
for
you,
if
you
don't
need
be,
but
we
don't
want
it
in
your
recycling
cart
to
be
sent
over
here
there.
We
have
ways
to
deal
with
it.
B
Think
that
this
is
damaging
our
recycling
program
by
not
having
us
except
radiators
by
not
having
us
accept
things
that
are
not
mentioned
here
today.
Remember
what
we're
trying
to
do
is
we're
trying
to
affect
the
percentages.
The
radiator
could
be
one-tenth
of
one
percent
of
all
recyclables
and
you
may
have
a
bad
impression,
recycle
because
it's
not
made
but
yet
you're
missing
the
opportunity
to
recycle
the
forty
or
fifty
percent
of
material
that
gets
used
everyday
by
households
that
could
easily
be
recycled
and
kept
out
of
our
landfill
and.
A
C
B
B
A
C
The
way
we're
going
to
deal
with
the
concern
of
not
having
enough
space
right
now,
we're
telling
everybody
wait
and
when
we
still
get
this
thing
going,
I
personally
am
going
to
be
out
there
following
this
truck
around
and
looking
to
see
who
has
overflowed,
who
has
more
than
they
can
contain,
and
the
first
thing
I'm
going
to
do
is
look
at
it.
I'm
going
to
dig
through
your
recycling
and
I'm
going
to
say:
hey,
they
are
spot
on
their
their
recycling.
What
needs
to
be?
C
We
need
to
get
them
a
bigger
container
or
we
need
to
get
them
a
second
container.
We
will
do
whatever
we
need
to
do
to
ensure
that
people
can
recycle
everything
that
they
want
to,
but
on
the
other
hand,
if
I
go
through
there
and
I
find
the
styrofoam
or
the
plastic
cups
that
you
know,
we
don't
need
then
I'm
going
to
add
one
on
one
educate
so
that
he
gets
a
better
product
on
this
in
and
they
still
have
the
room.
They
need
to
do
it
correctly.
I'm.
B
Glad
that
she
mentions
Tyra
foam
because
that's
something
that
a
lot
of
people
want
to
see
recycled
and
we
want
to
receive
recycled
as
well.
The
city
and
I
are
working
hard
to
look
for
people
to
help
us
add
this
to
our
capabilities.
So
as
soon
as
that
capability
is
there
we're
going
to
make
sure
we
communicate
it
to
the
city
right.
A
Really
want
to
commend
the
efforts
that
both
of
y'all
are
doing
to
educate
and
get
that
information
out
there
and
again
a
list
will
be
coming
through
to
each
household
about
what
is
and
what
is
not
recyclable,
and
you
can
find
that
information
on
our
website
cheese.
So
that
is
that's
something
that
we
really
want
to
know.
Sarah
wednesday
schedule
going
to
start.
Okay.
C
C
And
there
is
actually
even
a
link
on
the
website
that
you
can
it's
an
interactive
map
that
you
can
put
your
address
in
and
it
will
take
you
and
show
you
exactly
what
the
color
of
your
neighborhood
is
just
in
case.
Somehow
we
miss
your
bin
or
something,
but
there
are
several
ways
to
find
out
what
you
are
Sarah.
C
You
know
with
the
city
of
Aiken.
We
went
from
paying
to
do
the
right
thing
to
now,
we're
doing
it
basically
at
no
charge
to
the
potentially
making
money
by
doing
the
right
thing,
which
would
drive
the
rates
down
even
more.
You
know
in
this
I'm
excited
because
it
gives
us
an
opportunity
to
outreach
to
the
community,
as
we
never
have
been
before.
Sir.
A
As
we're
wrapping
up
today,
have
we
missed
it?
I
know
we
could
talk
about
this
subject
for
a
very
long
time
in
both
I
mean
it's
because
there's
so
many
components
to
it,
I
think
we're
really
just
skimming
the
surface
today
and
learning
folks
know
in
the
city
how
this
is
directly
going
to
affect
them
with
the
recycle
schedule,
but
is
there
anything
that
y'all
want
to
address
today
that
we
might
not
have
covered
first.
B
I
want
people
to
know,
I
think
that
this
was
something
that
was
given
a
lot
of
thought
by
the
city.
I,
don't
think
it
was
something
that's
just
a
knee-jerk
reaction.
She
just
mentioned
that
this
has
been
talks
for
over
two
years.
I
think
they
went
into
this
with
a
really
good
plan.
I
also
believe
that
a
lot
of
other
cities
are
doing
the
same
thing,
we're
only
seeing
every
other
week.
Recycling
pick
up.
There
are
some
concerns
out
there
that
this
may
hurt.
Recycling
I
can
tell
you
that
Sarah
and
I
are
working
together.
B
B
Imagine
taking
your
laundry
detergent
bottle
out
of
your
trash
can
at
home
all
of
a
sudden
that
trash
can
does
not
fill
up
as
fast
now,
and
what
you
will
find,
though,
is
will
utilize
the
carts
that
the
city
has
given
you
we're
going
to
make
sure
they're
full
each
time
they
come,
and
this
is
going
to
be
a
positive
experience
in
the
end.
I'm
convinced
of
that.
A
Thank
you
both
so
much.
We
hope
that
if
you,
if
you're,
not
currently
recycling
that
you
will
get
in
touch
with
our
public
works
department
and
get
the
the
bin
so
that
the
recycling
can
start
happening
and
if
you
are
currently
recycling,
there
is
a
wealth
of
information
again
on
our
website
at
city
of
aiken
SC
gov.
You
can
also
call
our
public
works
department
Sara.
What's
that
number
that.