Program Family Album
 

Appliance and Scrap Tire Collection Events are held county-wide throughout the year. Call or email us for details on the next event in your community.

Curbside Recycling is available in some areas for smaller businesses. Curbside collection bins are used for glass, cans, plastic, paper and cardboard. Call for details
 

Office paper 'toters' and larger containers are available for lease from the district. Call for prices on a container that meets your needs either in your office, factory, or an outside container. Our trucks make regular stops throughout the County to over 600 local businesses and industries.

Businesses can reduce their trash costs by participating in our county-wide Recycling Collection Routes.

'Toters' can be used in an office as a central collection point for office paper and cardboard. Our Recycling Program is designed for a very comprehensive variety called 'file stock' which would be anything you would otherwise find in a filing cabinet - not just white office paper.

The District also offers Large Roll Off Style Containers for Special Event Recycling Programs. These containers are perfect for street fairs, neighborhood parties, and other large events.

This scrap tire pile in Atwater Ohio is estimated to contain over one million tires. The District has been working with the Ohio EPA to clean up these sites preventing the spread of the West Nile Virus and eliminating a potential fire hazard.
 

The District cosponsors the County Clothing Center with Family and Community Services of Portage County. The Center is located on Route 59 between Kent and Ravenna and accepts slightly used clothing donations to be offered for free to any and all local residents. Call or email us for details and hours.

 

The County Clothing Center received a prestigious national award for exceptional programming from the Mutual of America Foundation. The award was presented during a gala held in New York City, November 2001.

Fourteen different Recycling Drop Off Locations throughout the County. Each site offers large containers for each material such as junk mail/office paper, newspaper/phonebooks, magazines/catalogs, glass/cans/plastics, and cardboard.

The Drop Off Location at the District Recycling Center in Brimfield also accepts motor oil and batteries. Follow directions on the signs for proper storage.
 

Old computers and peripherals are accepted year round from Portage County residents and businesses. Please call for details. Recycle your old computer and help your local school district win the 2008 OLD COMPUTER RECYCLING CHALLENGE. Go to the 2008 Old Computer Recycling Challenge page for dates and locations.
 

The District owns a "Front Load" style truck that makes a milk-run collection from each of the fourteen Drop Off Locations. At each stop, the Collection Truck empties one materials such as newspaper, then continues to the next location finally arriving back at the District Recycling Center where the paper is sorted, baled, and resold to local paper mills.

Paper products received at the District Recycling Center are first placed onto a long conveyor by a skid steer machine.

Bottles and cans are also loaded into sorting equipment by a front end loader. The District Recycling Center uses high tech equipment such as an electromagnet and air classifier to help separate the different materials.
 

Glass, aluminum cans, steel cans, #1 and #2 plastics are either hand sorted or mechanically sorted on a series of conveyor lines.

Glass is sorted into brown, clear and green glass for resale to a local glass refinery. Even small pieces of mixed glass are recovered for recycling by using a large rotating drum called a trommel.

Pop bottles, milk jugs, and colored plastics are hand sorted and baled for resale. The District Recycling Center currently only accepts #1 and #2 plastics because resale markets for other plastics is still unreliable.

The Harris Horizontal Baler compacts the plastic, metal, or paper into large blocks that are loaded onto trucks for resale to manufacturers or paper mills.

This one ton paper bale will be loaded onto a truck for shipment to a paper mill in Rittman Ohio.

A 6,400 square foot Full Service Maintenance Shop keeps the trucks and the conveyor lines rolling.

We take pride in our District Recycling Facility and it shows.
 

A view west along south property line showing existing mainline for Wheeling Lake Erie line. Proposed rail spur would access this line for rail shipments of finished baled goods.

Tour groups from all over enjoy visiting and seeing the Recycling Center in action. The District Recycling Center has been used as a model for many other facilities and is considered by many 'in the industry' as one of the best examples around for high quality - high recovery.

Finished bales are taken from the baler room by forklift and loaded into waiting trailers. Proposed railroad spur adjacent to this platform would provide freight savings and access to regional markets.

Our Household Hazardous Waste Exchange Program offers free reblended paint & other items to local civic and non profit organizations along with free disposal for all liquid & other hazardous wastes. Call for details & hrs.

 

Throw-&-Go 2007 - located at Kent State University's student residence halls.  Designated sites are for the collection of gently used clothing, small appliances, unused school supplies, unopened containers of food, furniture, room size rugs & carpet.  Donations are collected by Family & Community Services and are available through the County Clothing Center & local food banks. 

The District Recycling Center and other programs described on this page are
sponsored by the Portage County Solid Waste Management District.

Board of District Commissioners: Charles W. Keiper II, Christopher Smeiles, Maureen T. Frederick