After emptying, cleaning and drying plastic, paper and metal products, Apache Junction residents paying for recyclables pickup can place their items in special bins.
The prep work prior to placing an object in the bin is important as food and liquid left in or on the items — such as grease from pizza on a cardboard box or orange juice in a plastic bottle — can contaminate what is to be recycled, according to a video at RecyclingSimplified.com. The website is owned by Republic Services, which in 2020 became the first and only sole-provider of trash and recycling for the city of Apache Junction.
Trucks pick up the recyclables Wednesdays from outside Apache Junction homes and the items are later transported to southern Arizona for processing to generate funds when there are domestic and international markets to sell recyclables to. That will soon change as Republic Services has a processing plant under construction north of Mesa that will be able to process the materials.
