From left to right: Kathryn Wylie, lobbyist with the S.C. Beverage Association; Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette; Myra Reece, environmental services director; PalmettoPride Director Sarah Lyles; and state Recycle Right Coordinator Grace Anne Martin talk about the Recycle Here SC app at the Statehouse on Nov. 15, 2024. (Provided/SC Department of Environmental Services)
COLUMBIA — For anyone left with mountains of boxes and wrapping paper after opening their gifts, a state-run app can help sort out what’s recyclable and where to take it.
The app, Recycle Here SC, is meant to make recycling easier by helping people find nearby recycling drop-off centers and figure out what can go in the recycling bin versus the trash.
The app includes a map showing which of the state’s 530 recycling drop sites are closest to a person’s home or business.
A glossary of helpful terms lists common materials that can and can’t be recycled and says how to wash or prepare certain items before recycling. A calendar will show special collection events, where people can often recycle items such as hazardous waste, shredded paper and electronics.
As far as Christmas goes, wrapping paper depends on the type and what a person’s local centers accept, while cardboard boxes should go in the recycling bin, according to the app.
The groups behind the app — the state’s environmental agency, litter pickup group Palmetto Pride and the SC Beverage Association — want to make sure people recycle what can be recycled and leave out everything else, reducing contamination that can send a whole load of material to the landfill.
“Having the right items in the right bin increases the value of the recyclables, lowers processing costs, and provides clean raw material to manufacturers for making new products,” said Department of Environmental Services Director Myra Reece in a statement.
Different recycling sites have different rules.
But some commonly recycled items that should never go in curbside recycling bins include greasy pizza boxes, Christmas lights (or any other rope-like item), scrap metal, batteries, and plastic bags (recycle the bags at your local grocery store instead), according to the state’s environmental agency.
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The state has a website with information on how to recycle. But the app, which launched in November, is meant to be more convenient for people looking for quick answers, Reece said in a statement.
Some counties also have their own apps, with which the statewide one is meant to act in conjunction, she added.
By increasing the amount of trash people recycle, state officials also hope to reduce litter, which is often made up of recyclable materials, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette said in a statement.
“With the launch of the Recycle Here SC app, we’re equipping South Carolinians with a powerful tool to make recycling more accessible and efficient,” Evette said in a statement.
In 2021, the state’s environmental agency set a goal of recycling at least 50% or more of all trash by 2030, mirroring a federal goal set the year before. In the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, that rate was just under 21%, according to the agency’s annual report. (The 2024 report has not yet been released.)
That amounted to just over 1.1 million tons of recycling, out of more than 5.4 million tons of waste generated, according to the report.
Only one county had met the state’s goal by the 2023 report. Chesterfield County residents recycled 65% of their trash, or about 9,000 tons, according to the report.
“Citizens want to do the right thing but also want convenience,” PalmettoPride director Sarah Lyles said in a statement. “This mobile app provides user-friendly access to much-needed information.”