Are there items in your home that you need to toss but haven’t yet because you know they’re technically recyclable but you don’t know where to take them? The Utah Recycling Alliance may have your answer. On Saturday, June 7, a CHaRM (Collection of Hard-to-Recycle Materials) event will be held in Cottonwood Heights.

CHaRM pop-up events are intended to gather recyclable items from residents that may otherwise end up in the trash. Some examples of these hard-to-recycle items include: plastic containers, batteries, carpet padding, cell phones, chargers, cords, cables, string lights, e-waste, lightbulbs, mattresses, box springs, oral care, outdoor equipment, plastic bags, scrap metal, books, Styrofoam, plastic wrap, ink and toner cartridges, and bikes and their parts. Residents can also give their old tires and tire tubes to the Utah Recycling Alliance to dispose of for an extra fee. 

Last year, a CHaRM event was held in Cottonwood Heights on June 8. At that event, the Utah Recycling Alliance was able to gather 4,016 pounds of recyclable material from residents. (To view our previous coverage of that event, visit the Cottonwood Heights Journal website and search for the article titled “CHaRM event helps residents recycle hard-to-recycle items.”) 

Councilmember Ellen Birrell shared her experience attending the previous CHaRM event. “I thought maybe one of their table vendors would take those clamshell plastic containers your spinach, berries or bakery items come in. I came to find out that the numerous vendors at the CHaRM event may not take my clamshell packaging but they take batteries and many other hard to recycle items.” 

From 9 a.m. until noon, residents can bring any of these hard-to-recycle materials to the parking lot of Hillside Plaza (2378 E. Fort Union Blvd.) for the alliance to collect. Volunteers will help residents sort their materials so they can be aggregated for disposal at responsible recycling facilities. 

“How we choose to conserve is important because Salt Lake’s TransJordan landfill is nearly to capacity. The regional plan is to begin trucking landfill waste all the way to southern Provo in a few years. Already congested Interstate 15 will become more dangerous with an influx of commercial waste trucks,” Birrell said. 

CHaRM events help in part to support Utah Recycling Alliance’s vision of a Zero Waste culture. The aim is to build successful models encouraging practices that promote reuse, recycling and resource conservation.

“I really appreciate what their event does not only for actual recycling but also for building awareness for how our consumer driven society has a real task at hand to properly dispose of toxic and harmful items that should not go in the general landfill,” Birrell said.  

She also emphasized how important she believes, what she calls, the “Six Rs” are for “having a safe and healthy lifestyle here along the Wasatch Front”—Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair, Repurpose, Refuse.  

To help support the alliance’s efforts, residents aren’t only limited to taking part in CHaRM events. There are also many volunteer and donation opportunities available: volunteers are needed to help sort materials at CHaRM events, work tables at special events, and host clean-up events; donations can be submitted directly to the Utah Recycling Alliance website as a one-time or recurring donation. The Utah Recycling Alliance is also looking for sponsorships and car donations. 

To learn more about the Utah Recycling Alliance, visit:
www.utahrecyclingalliance.org. 

To RSVP to the CHaRM event on Saturday, June 7, visit the “Recycling Collection Event - Cottonwood Heights” event through EventBrite. λ