TWIN FALLS, Idaho — PSI Environmental Systems, Inc. has taken a major step forward in waste management with the opening of a new recycling center, designed to process the more than 200 tons of recyclable materials collected monthly throughout the city of Twin Falls.
WATCH | Twin Falls' new recycling center is changing how we process waste! See how 200+ tons of materials get sorted monthly—
The facility represents the culmination of a 20-year partnership between the city of Twin Falls and PSI Environmental Systems to increase recycling efforts in the area.
"Our drivers go out and collect it all, bring it here and dump it – and then you can see behind me that he comes in with the loader and scoops it up – dumps it into the hopper and packs it into a nice compact bail," said Jace Melugin of PSI Environmental Systems, Inc.
Previously, loose recyclable materials like aluminum, tin, and cardboard were shipped to sorting and packing centers across the West. Now, all processing will happen locally at the new Twin Falls facility.
The center aims to address contamination issues that plague residential recycling pickup, which often contains mixed materials requiring additional separation.
By processing materials locally, PSI can better separate and bundle different types of recyclables before shipping.
"That's why we try to keep it simple with aluminum, cardboard, and tin so it's just easy to remember," Melugin said.
Logan Smith, who works in garbage collection for the area, emphasized that not all materials are suitable for recycling programs.
"We don't take anything like pizza boxes... mostly because of the food contamination – the oils – they don't go well with other recyclable cardboard," Smith said.
Smith noted that during leaf season, many residents mistakenly place lawn waste in the orange recycling bins, which leads to contamination warnings.
"We'll end up putting these on your recycling container – usually the lid – if we find any sort of contamination. You get two chances to give us clean recycle so we're able to make bails and run it through our brand new recycle center," Smith said.
The new facility processes cardboard from area businesses separately from residential pickup materials, which helps maintain quality standards and reduces contamination potential.
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