Recycling

Many areas around the country and in the surrounding areas have stopped recycling altogether. We are doing our best to keep the recycling program afloat. For example, Cedar City Utah, has canceled their entire recycling program in 2020. Many others around this area say they will take certain materials such as glass but they never make it to the processing facility, whether they are in Salt Lake City or the Los Angeles area. St. George Utah, stopped their Binnie program for a short while. With so many municipalities suspending recycling or cutting back, many processing facilities are doing the same. We have two to three places in Las Vegas and in the Los Angeles area that we take our recyclables too, however, they no longer accept or will not pay anything for the commodity. It is very hard to send a shipment of recyclables that cost over $1,000 or more for transport and get $0.00 in return. We have never had glass in our recycling program but we are always looking to improve and add as many products as possible for recycling. This is not limited to Virgin Valley Disposal. This is happening across the state of Nevada, as well as throughout the country. One of the largest recycling facilities in California (RePlanet) has closed its doors putting thousands of hard-working people out of work. It has absolutely nothing to do with a lack of environmental consciousness at the recycling facilities. Below are some of the reasons we have chosen not to recycle glass at our facility:

Glass that is collected and sorted through curbside programs or drop off locations is "highly contaminated," making the materials "useless."
Glass processing facilities do not usually want glass. In addition, broken glass can stick to paper and cardboard contaminating those materials and making the entire load contaminated.
Another reason we do not accept glass is because of its weight. The weight of glass makes it too costly to transport.
A large reason we do not recycle glass is because it is too difficult to separate different types and colors of glass. (Colored glass needs to be recycled with liked colors only. Just as you wouldn’t wash a red sweater with white undershirts, recyclers do not combine differently colored glass. Instead, green glass can only be recycled with green glass, amber with amber, and so forth. Certain minerals are added to create different glass colors — e.g., iron, chromium, or copper is added to make green glass — thus, colored glass can only be used to produce more glass of that same color. Colored glass helps prevent sunlight from negatively affecting the bottle or jar’s contents, which is why it is so often used for beer and wine bottles.)
Pyrex is a type of tempered glass that is not recyclable. (Pyrex bakeware is indeed a form of glass, but because of the way it is manufactured to withstand high temperatures, it is not recyclable. We recommend donating usable Pyrex items, and placing broken Pyrex in the trash.)
Window glass is typically not recyclable.
One of the last reasons we do not accept glass is because of the dangers it presents to our hard-working employees who have to handle the broken and sharp materials.

May we suggest a few things to help ensure glass does not end up in our landfill? Glass is great for up-cycling projects. Glass jars and bottles can be used for decorative storage, to make candle holders or vases, as well as coin banks or bird feeders. Our goal is to “re-educate residents as to what recycling actually means, how it works and what is truly recyclable and recoverable material.” The list of what is currently acceptable includes plastic bottles, newspaper, cardboard, metal cans and aluminum cans. Virgin Valley Disposal is always looking to recycle as many products as possible to save not only our local landfill but the environment and the earth! We have done a lot of research and there are alternatives for glass recycling that are looking positive for the future. Much of reclaimed glass can be ground into fine gravel for road construction and pavement projects. We are here for the long haul and want to do our part. It will take everyone's efforts to make this and all our recycling programs work.

We have placed four of our recycle containers at two separate locations to better serve the community. Two are placed in the Smith’s parking lot, and two at the Walmart parking lot. We offer four commodities, Aluminum cans, Plastic milk jugs / Plastic Water Bottles, Newspaper and Corrugated cardboard. We invite all residents who wish to recycle to use any of these containers freely. Commercial customers please call our office to see if we can serve your recycling needs. Remember to make the program work we must keep the commodities clean. When you arrive to use the containers you will notice four different size and shaped holes, this will assist in keeping the commodities clean and help prevent contaminants.

To help save our environment the City of Mesquite along with Virgin Valley Disposal has set up a curbside recycling program. Commodities recycled are, Aluminum cans / Metal cans and Newspaper. The first Wednesday of each month is Aluminum & Metal cans, these items must be in the GRAY container. The third Wednesday of each month is Newspaper, these items must be in the BLUE container. Keys to making this program work...

Keep all commodities clean (No garbage or other material mixed in the container)
Recyclables need to be "clean, dry and empty" (After finishing with a recyclable item, rinse as necessary to remove food and or contents)

Meeting your recycle needs...

Some of the items we recycle!!!

Aluminum/Metal Recycling

Aluminum beverage cans

Food cans

Scrap metal

Paper Recycling

Newspaper

Envelopes

Junk mail

Phone books

Brochures

Magazines

Plastic Recycling

Milk jugs (no cartons)

Water/Soda containers

Shampoo/Soap/Detergent bottles

Cardboard Recycling

Ream wrappers

File folders

Poster board

Frozen food boxes

Cardboard boxes

Milk cartons

ITEMS THAT CAN'T BE RECYCLED IN THE DROP OFF OR 35 GALLON CONTAINERS...

Appliances

Batteries

Bubble Wrap

Christmas Lights

Coat Hangers

Diapers

Electrical Cords

Food Waste

Food Wrap

Garden Hoses

Plastic Bags

Polystyrene

Rubber Balls

Sports Equipment

Stuffed Animals

Syringes/Razor Blades

Tires

Waxed Cartons

Wood/Yard Waste

Glass

Why we don't accept GLASS

Drop off Recycling

These sites will remain open to the public 24-hrs. a day, 7 days a week!

Curbside Recycling