Base recycling center makes changes, still here for you Published Oct. 23, 2015 By Jenny Gordon Robins Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- While there have been recent changes in the Robins Qualified Recycling Program, services at the base recycling center will continue to operate as before and will remain the same there. You may have noticed missing blue recycling bins that were formerly located at your organization's facility. Due to a contract change this fiscal year, as of October 1, Happy Hour Service Center will no longer collect plastics, aluminum cans or mixed paper from inside buildings. The removal of the bins, which were in place for at least the past 10 years, affected nearly 250 buildings. Now, only those marked with white paper will continue to be collected. Cardboard collection, a separate contract, will also continue. Open since the summer of 2012, the recycling center at Bldg. 987 has offered a convenient location 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the community to drop off recyclable items. With recyclables in hand, visitors can still drive up to any of over a dozen windows and drop inside mixed cans, aluminum cans, mixed glass, brown glass, clear glass, newspapers, cardboard, white paper, mixed paper, aluminum and plastics. Two handicapped-accessible windows allow for cardboard, plastics, toner cartridges, newspapers, and white and mixed paper to be dropped off. The Happy Hour Service Center in Warner Robins picks up items from the recycling center three days a week. Those efforts are part of the recycling program, which also includes scrap metal operations and the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Service. Income is generated from these programs, which not only brings revenue back to the base, but is an important part of diverting what we can away from landfills and keeping our planet healthy. In fiscal 2015, the total payment received for recyclable goods was over $235,000. "Recycling is the right thing to do," said Darryl Mercer, QRP operations manager. In the last fiscal year, overall items and tons recycled included: cardboard, 488 tons; mixed paper, 138 tons; white paper, 81 tons; newsprint, 51 tons; aluminum cans, nine tons; magazines, 30 tons; plastics, 30 tons; glass, 62 tons; e-cycling, two tons; lead acid batteries, 36 tons; scrap metal/copper wire/motors, 1,230 tons; brass, nine tons; used oil, 59,000 plus gallons; and toner cartridges, 14 tons. While the former collection system was a convenience for recycling, it is urged that the base population continue to recycle as before. The only difference is that it will now be the responsibility of each organization to drop off any items at the recycling center. Over the next several months there will be continued efforts to address any additional recycling measures that can be put in place with recycling programs. What to know If you'd like assistance with setting up your own organization's recycling program, or for questions or concerns, you may call Casey Lucas at DSN 497-9283 or Darryl Mercer at DSN 497-3976.