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Keep Forsyth County Beautiful’s annual recycling event draws crowd
Recycling
Volunteers unload recyclable electronics during Keep Forsyth County Beautiful’s annual recycling event on Saturday. - photo by Jim Dean

By mid-day Saturday, numbers of electronics and cans full of paint dropped off for Keep Forsyth County Beautiful’s annual recycling event were on track to rival if not beat out the success of previous years.

Tammy Wright, manager of environmental programs for Forsyth County, said as the day progressed it was looking as though they’d likely have more than 200 cars dropping off recyclable items — including lots of televisions and cans half-full of paint.

“(Our organization) started accepting paint two years ago, and we’re still surprised at how much paint we take in,” Wright said, adding that

Recycling
Student volunteers unload paint during the event. - photo by Jim Dean
Keep Forsyth County Beautiful would likely accept around 5,000 gallons of paint by day’s end.

Wright quipped there must be “a lot of basements full of paint in this county.”

Electronics recycling at the event was handled and processed by Atlanta Recycling Solutions, a local Forsyth County company that dismantles, refurbishes or reuses equipment for parts.

Wright said the company “recycles as much of (the electronics) as possible.”

A $5 donation was requested for each carload, and certain items carried an extra fee. Televisions, for instance cost $20.

“I was just talking with someone a few minutes ago who didn’t want to pay $20 to recycle a TV,” Wright said, “but if you take a TV to the local landfill, their minimum charge is (more than that).”

Wright attributed the event’s success to the large number of volunteers, including more than 60 young people from area high schools.

“We couldn’t do it without them,” Wright said.

For those who missed Saturday’s event, there’s another television and paint recycling event coming up in May 2018.

For more information, including a list of acceptable and non-acceptable items, go to KeepForsythCountyBeautiful.org. The group can also be reached through email at kfcb@forsythco.com or by phone at (770) 205-4573.