H-E-B and S.A.F.E. Partner Together for Recycling Convenience

Since the change of trash services, many San Angelo residents now have the benefit of participating in recycling from their own homes. Many people feel recycling is very important because waste has a negative impact on the natural environment. Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by waste.

In fact, San Angelo has a few recycling centers, including the S.A.F.E. Recycling Center, Go Green & Recycle, and Butts Recycling Inc., just to name a few. The San Angelo Friends of the Environment, or S.A.F.E., was started in 1990 by a group of concerned citizens. Their mission is to promote environmental awareness. For many years, San Angeloans had to take their recyclables to one of these centers, which for some people, wasn't convenient.

With the change of trash services, many residents were excited to learn they would no longer have to go out of their way to recycle, but because of the fees apartment complexes have to pay to maintain recycling bins on their properties, some residents still don't get to enjoy that benefit.

“Due to funding, we were told that our apartment complex could not afford recycling bins on the property anymore, and I miss the convenience of separating my recyclables and disposing of them at my own living place,” said a concerned citizen.

A March 2016 City of San Angelo video about S.A.F.E. Recycling:

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Thus, for those people who want to recycle but don’t have a pick up at their residence, the S.A.F.E. Recycling Center, located at 702 Warehouse Road, and H-E-B have partnered together. People can take recyclables directly to either location for convenience.

These recyclables include:

• Grocery bags
• Ziploc and other zip sealing bags
• Plastic rings around six packs of sodas and beer
• Newspaper sleeves
• Outer wrap (ex. Bottled water packs)
• Dry cleaning bags

The S.A.F.E. center will make 350-pound bales out of this plastic and deliver them to the local H-E-B. In turn, H-E-B workers will load them and take them to their main distribution center in San Antonio, Texas. Here they will be recycled with all of the plastic bags and cardboard from all H-E-B stores in Texas.

“Recycling is important for large businesses to get involved in because the waste they put out is a large portion of the waste sent to landfills, so recycling more of those items could lead to a better impact on the environment,” said an H-E-B employee.

H-E-B will help by diverting more than 186,000 tons of waste from landfills by recycling cardboard, plastics, organics, office paper, metals, and truck tires annually. In 2014, the company recycled six million pounds of plastic bags.

H-E-B also has an Organic Diversion Program, which diverts more than 25,000 tons of organics from the landfill to compost and animal feed.

As for S.A.F.E. Recycling, the center is a non-profit organization and receives donations of money, time, or materials from individuals, local businesses, groups, and organizations.

Overall, the partnership between these two companies will benefit those individuals who want to recycle in a convenient way.

“Recycling is important to both the natural environment and us,” said the concerned citizen. “Recycling is a great way for people to make a positive impact on the world in which we live.”