HANNIBAL | 2 Rivers Industries Inc. will reopen their facility and resume recycling services Monday, Aug. 3.
Executive Director Melonie Nevels said several changes that will be implemented to assist in protecting all employees and the community from the COVID-19 virus. These protocols are designed to assist in preventing COVID-19 exposures to employees and customers. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that recyclers must address all potential sources of exposure including contact with members of the public and surfaces touched or handled by a person with COVID-19.
2 Rivers Industries Inc. has a plan in place to address these concerns: Recycling Drop-Off hours will start at 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and will remain open until available hoppers are full or by 2 p.m.
All materials that are dropped off by the community will be required to have a wait time. During the wait time, the materials must sit, untouched by employees, for the recommended time before any employee can sort the materials. All hoppers will be sealed once they are filled and marked with the date and time and removed from the front area of the building.
Plastic will not be accepted at this time. This will be evaluated on a regular basis and changed as it is safe and feasible to do so.
Cardboard will be accepted; however, it must be free of contaminated items like food, plastic and Styrofoam and broken down and folded flat. Once flat, the customer can place the cardboard into the designated hopper as specified by 2 Rivers staff. When a cardboard hopper is full, the hopper will start its wait time of 24 hours.
Paper products will be accepted; however, it must be free of contaminated items such as plastic wrap/bags and other foreign materials. All paper must be dry — no wet paper will be accepted to eliminate mold growth during wait times. Additionally, multiple paper collection containers will be available — mixed paper, magazines/books and office paper will be separated on-site. Paper wait time will be up to five days.
Electronics will be accepted, with no restrictions.
Metal products will be accepted. Separate hoppers will be provided for aluminum cans, steel cans and miscellaneous metals. The general wait time for metal is five days; the wait time for aluminum is 2-8 hours.
Only food-grade glass will be accepted. The wait time for glass is up to 5 days.
No non-recyclable materials will be accepted. All items must be placed in the appropriate collection container, and no items are allowed on the ground.
2 Rivers staff will be present during collection to provide direction and answer questions.
2 Rivers staff members are asking community members for practice the more detailed separation of items to boost safety and speed the process due to the wait times necessary to keep everyone safe. Nevels anticipated the services would be available each morning beginning at 7:30 a.m., and any updates to the plan will be posted to the 2 Rivers Industries Inc. website at www.2riversind.org and their Facebook page, @2RiversInd.
“It was definitely my goal and the goal of our Board of Directors to get our business open and provide the recycling services for the citizens of Hannibal while providing safe, meaningful and dignified employment to our employees,”Nevels said. “There are so many obstacles to address to try to prevent exposures to this virus. After many brainstorming sessions, this plan is what is thought to work best. We are all aware that things look different on paper than they do in practice and I know that there will be modifications needed over the next few weeks and months.”