Winneshiek County Recycling does not accept televisions, flat screens, or computer monitors. To dispose of these items, kindly take them to the electronics recycling trailer at the Winneshiek County Landfill during business hours. Please stop at the landfill office first where a $20 fee per unit applies.
Author: Winneshiek Waste
Happy America Recycles Day!
Happy America Recycles Day! Today, we would like to thank all the folks out there that choose to recycle. Your actions matter, and together we’re making a positive impact on our environment and contributing to a healthier planet. We appreciate each and every one of you! Let’s keep those recyclable materials out of our landfill!
Dumping at Recycling Collection Sites
Please remember, it’s not acceptable to leave junk next to county recycling bins. Visit our What Do I Do With page or contact us to find out where unwanted materials should be taken. The items in these images were recently found next to the bins at the 48-hour municipal parking lot in Decorah. Please call or send us a message if you have questions. Let’s keep our community clean!
Don’t Let Your Halloween Pumpkins Haunt the Landfill!
Don’t Let Your Halloween Pumpkins Haunt the Landfill!
Jack-o’-lanterns are lighting up porches everywhere during this spooky season! What happens to these pumpkins when Halloween is over? How can we keep them out of the landfill?
1. Compost, Don’t Toss: Instead of putting them in the trash, consider composting your pumpkins. Pumpkins are organic matter and can add valuable nutrients to a compost pile. Just make sure decorations are removed before composting them!
2. Pumpkin Receipes: Turn them into yummy treats! Pumpkin flesh can be roasted and used in soups, pies, or other recipes.
3. Farm Animal Snacks: Ask a local farmer if they want old pumpkins for their pigs, chickens, and goats!
4. Natural Yard Decor: Use them as decorative additions in a garden or yard and let them decompose naturally, adding nutrients to the soil.
Every small action counts in reducing waste. This Halloween, let’s put our pumpkins to good use and ensure they don’t haunt the landfill!
Halloween Candy Wrappers
Please remember to put your candy wrappers in the trash, not the recycling bin. Most candy wrappers are made from a combination of plastic and aluminum. These materials are extremely difficult to separate, so it’s very challenging to recycle them, and they contaminate the process. Thanks for keeping our recycling clean, and enjoy those sweet Halloween treats!
Changes in Winneshiek County Recycling Drop Off Shed
Starting Monday, October 2nd, there will be a new blue bin in the drop off shed at the Freeport Recycling Center. This container will be used for collecting plastics stamped #1 or #2 and metal cans. This bin will replace the cages and smaller bins previously used to collect plastics and metal cans.
The pink cardboard collection container and the paper collection bins will also trade spots, so the paper collection bins will be next to the new plastics/metal cans container on the right side of the shed.
Rechargeable Batteries
Please bring rechargeable batteries to the recycling center! DO NOT put these items in your trash. They can cause fires at the landfill when they are run over by the compactor! This includes cell phones too. If you have questions on disposing of batteries, please click here.
Thanks to everyone that stopped by the 48-hour lot last Saturday to recycle your electronic waste for World CleanUp Day! We collected a lot of cell phones and rechargeable batteries!
Have a great weekend!
World Cleanup Day / Electronic Waste Collection
Mark your calendars! World Cleanup Day is Saturday, September 16th, and we will be collecting electronic waste items next to Decorah Farmers Market from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM. There will be a trailer parked in the 48 hour lot next to the other recycling collection bins.
Check out the lists below to see what items you can bring and what not to bring. You can also visit our “What Do I Do With…” page to see some more electronic examples.
Electronics can also be brought to the recycling center during business hours Monday through Friday, but this is your chance to dispose of these items on a weekend! If you choose to bring an electronic to the recycling center during business hours, please ensure you speak with our staff.
Questions? Email wildrecycling@winneshiekwild.com
Please Keep Trash Out of Recycling Bins
Happy Friday! This is another friendly reminder to please ensure you are only placing recyclable materials in the recycling collection bins throughout Winneshiek County. Bags filled with garbage were recently discovered in a Ridgeway recycling collection bin. There was also a ceiling fan in the 48 hour lot paper bin in Decorah. If you have garbage and you don’t know what to do with it, please check out the “LANDFILL” tab on our home page of this website. Find more information about the rural waste drop-off sites in our county here.
The Winneshiek County Sanitary Landfill is located at:
2000 140th Avenue
Decorah, IA 52101
Thanks to all of you that support our recycling program. Have a great weekend!
Appliances
Do you have an appliance that you need to dispose of? Check out our Applicances page for directions on where to take your item. Appliances must be dropped off during office hours. Refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners and dehumidifiers (appliances with freon) should be taken to the Winneshiek County Landfill appliance trailer- $20.00 fee per appliance. Microwaves, stoves, washers and dryers (appliances without freon) can be dropped at the Freeport Recycling Center door 6am-3pm M-F without a charge.