Congrats, conveying and convention

Dear Editor,

My congratulations to the UPRSWDD (Platte Valley Landfill District) for winning the Wyoming Solid Waste and Recycling Association (WSWRA) award for recycling for populations under 5,000 for 2018.

Congratulations also goes to the citizens and businesses of this landfill district for making this award possible with their support of our recycling efforts in Saratoga and Encampment over the last 10 years.

We have come a long way in 20 years, from no recycling at all in 1995 when I arrived here, to a new recycling building equipped with three large balers and all the needed equipment for a complete recycling program.

This has only been possible with the support of the landfill board and the leadership of its chairman, Randy Raymer.

However, the next 10 years are going to be more challenging for we who believe in recycling, with the closure of the Asian recycling markets and the collapse of recycling prices in the U.S. We who are committed to recycling regardless of price will have to try harder and reach further.

Please don’t give up on recycling. Please continue to recycle your 3-7 plastic bottles and containers and your non-corrugated cardboard (i.e. cracker boxes and pop boxes), by taking them to Rawlins while continuing to recycle your corrugated cardboard, metal cans and all paper here in Saratoga and Encampment at your local transfer stations.

While looking forward to the return of plastic recycling to our local landfills, remember the Rawlins Recycling Center welcomes all Carbon County residents to recycle in Rawlins.

In a final piece of good news for Saratoga recycling, our town has been chosen for the 2021 location for the Wyoming Trash and Recycling Convention. I optimistically look forward to a full restoration of local recycling services by the convention.

Remember, join me in taking your plastic to Rawlins for recycling.

Richard Hodges

Saratoga Recycling Services