Commander’s Action Line: Recycling Published June 5, 2009 By 72nd Air Base Wing TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Q:Recently I went to recycle my plastic, glass, cans, etc. and found the bins were no longer available. Has the base discontinued the recycling drop off? A:Tinker has discontinued the recycling drop-off trailers. Those trailers were used primarily to collect plastic and glass items. These recyclables have limited marketability and it is not economically feasible for the base to collect, segregate and process them. Therefore, the drop-off trailers have been removed from service, and plastics and glass will no longer be collected even at the Tinker recycling center. We will continue to collect cardboard, white paper, aluminum cans, tin cans and metal at the recycling center. In addition, mixed paper can be dropped off at the green/yellow Abitibi dumpsters. The Abitibi corporation provides free recycling of mixed paper in their own collection containers. Several recyclers still accept plastic and glass. The closest location to recycle these materials is the Midwest City Recycling Center at 8730 SE 15th Street, just west of Douglas on the south side of 15th Street. Although these items do not generate revenue, Midwest City and some other centers have made the decision to continue to accept these commodities. We regret the fact that we cannot continue to recycle these items, but the revenues from recycling other commodities has also fallen off considerably. The $60,000 we budgeted for FY09 was not sufficient given the market changes, and we would have been forced to stop all recycling efforts had we not immediately reduced expenses. In the future, if market conditions or funding opportunities improve, Tinker officials will reconsider the collection and recycling of plastics and glass.