News (Page 2)

Headline: Opening Up Recycling Submitted by South Central Solid Waste Authority Caption: Remember to go back to basics: break down your recycled boxes for more space in your bin. With the state and country opening back up, New Mexicans can get back to recycling with a bit more ease. It’s been a long year, and if you’ve been stashing the Amazon boxes because they won’t fit in your blue bin, come back out to Las Cruces Recycle Center 2855 W. Amador Avenue or at the Foothills Landfill Composting Facility at 555 S. Sonoma Ranch Blvd. Masks and social distancing are still encouraged. “Once we cameRead More →

Headline: Cleaning Up Our Recycling Submitted by South Central Solid Waste Authority Caption: When pizza boxes find their way into the blue bin, the whole load of good, quality recyclables – like stiff cardboard and aluminum cans – can be contaminated and go to waste. Also: Do not bag your recycling – it breaks the machines that process the material. Over the past year, it’s likely that recycling may not have been a priority. However, you might have had plenty of Amazon boxes that ending up in your blue bin. But, did Styrofoam from curbside pickup or a greasy pizza box end up there too?Read More →

SCSWA: Helping Las Cruces Grow By Cassie McClure April 23, 2021 The growth of Las Cruces means that extra trash is on the horizon. On the West Mesa, the horizon includes the Corralitos Landfill managed by South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA), which will see two new infrastructure projects in the coming years that will help support that growth. “We are anticipating our future needs strategically,” Patrick Peck, SCSWA director, said. SCSWA released a Ten-Year Financial Plan to guide their priorities, especially at Corralitos and for recycling in Dona Ana County. “First, we are creating a gas system at Corralitos to collect and monitor theRead More →

The year 1888 is an important one in New Mexico – it marks the year our oldest public institution of higher education was founded, New Mexico State University. 1888 also marks the year the “straw” was patented in Washington D.C., by Marvin Stone. The patent consisted of a manufacturing process where the straw was produced using winding strips of paper. However, in the 1960s, it was replaced by a toxic material called plastic, which is the common straw we know today.  While it may seem harmless and quite silly to think a simple plastic straw could have a negative impact in our environment, the truthRead More →

¿Sabía que la mayoría de los desechos de excursiones, campamentos o viajes de caza se pueden r eciclar? A medida que los parques recreativos y las tierras públicas comienzan a reabrirse, queremos recordarles a todos que tengan en cuenta sus desechos cuando visiten la naturaleza. Una pequeña cantidad de basura desechada puede tener un impacto devastador en la vida silvestre y el ganado. La ingestión de desechos de metal y plástico puede causar tumores, infecciones y enfermedades fatales en las vacas y animales nativos de Nuevo México. Puede tomar hasta setenta años a una botella de plástico, cuatrocientos cincuenta años a unas porta latas deRead More →

A partir del 1 de julio, la tarifa de su contenedor de reciclaje azul subió 35 centavos por mes para clientes residenciales, de $ 6.65 a $ 7. Los contenedores azules son solo para reciclables aceptados y se vacían (revisan) cada dos semanas. Si no está seguro de sus días de reciclaje, es fácil y gratuito inscribirse en Recycle Coach visitando www.SCSWA.net. Con Recycle Coach, recibirá un mensaje de texto la tarde antes de que su contenedor esté programado para ser recogido; es un recordatorio simple y rápido para llevar tu contenedor azul a la acera. El gran problema con el reciclaje sigue siendo laRead More →

SCSWA congratulates all the New Mexico communities who received this year’s RAID Grant. We are proud of their hard work in Recycling and Illegal Dumping efforts – CONGRATULATIONS! For a complete list of RAID grant recipients, please click on the following link: NMED RAID GRANT RECIPIENTSRead More →

According to a study by the Recycling Partnership, prior to COVID-19, the U.S. only captured roughly 32% of the 37.4 million tons of collected single-family recyclables. This means over 20 million tons of single-family recyclables ended up in landfills. Due to the Pandemic, those figures are likely to change, regrettably not for the better. That is why setting zero-waste goals could go a long way towards protecting our environment. As families are staying home, ordering takeout and online products more than ever before, the amounts of recyclables and trash are increasing. To help divert recyclables from going to the landfill, it is important to knowRead More →

The staff at South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA) was delighted to hear of Mr. Fred Fletcher’s “glass-caping” experience, we had to share it with you. Mr. Fletcher is an avid cyclist, recycler, and landscaper who moved to Las Cruces 25 years ago. For the past seven years, he has been picking-up glass “cullet” (about 450 buckets) from the Las Cruces Recycling Center. Glass cullet is derived from crushing recycled glass bottles and jars into small chunks of colored glass. If the color he is looking for is not there, it only takes a few weeks for it to appear.          Read More →

LAS CRUCES – Garbage day will be getting a bit more expensive. That’s because the Las Cruces City Council unanimously voted to raise residential and commercial garbage pickup rates at its Monday meeting. The rate increase takes effect in a month, Assistant Utilities Director Delilah Walsh told the council. The rate hike was postponed twice, in March and in April, due to the growing economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 public health emergency. Months later, most New Mexico businesses still cannot operate at full capacity and thousands are still out of work. Expanded federal unemployment benefits, which added an extra $600 a week on top of unemployedRead More →