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Campaign Signs Can Find New Use at Athens CHaRM Facility

Whether your candidate won or lost, now that the election cycle is up for most, it's time to get rid of your yard signs. Most political campaign signs are made of corrugated plastic which can be dropped off at Athens' CHaRM (Center for hard to recycle materials).  Joe Dunlop is the Waste Reduction Administrator for ACC Solid Waste Department. And while you should separate the metal stakes from the plastic signs, he says don’t throw the signs away.

”It’s an interesting phrase away, there is no such thing as away, here in Athens away is 5700 Lexington Road, and that’s our landfill,” according to Dunlop. “Campaign signs can be taken to our CHaRM facility."

Dunlop says they can reuse the material

"Campaign signs and yard signs, they’re typically a product called coroplast, basically polypropylene or number five plastic like your yogurt tubs. We can take those and use those at the CHaRM facility. We actually don’t recycle them there, but we do reuse those to help use pack materials for shipment and processing.”

You should also avoid putting the signs in the recycling bin.

“They would get thrown out and contribute to our contamination rate at the single stream recycling facility. They are not recyclable in that application, they would behave sort of like a cardboard box and contaminate the paper stream.”

Charm is located at 1005 College Ave.