New recycling center to replace Carefree’s

By Curtis Riggs | December 24, 2008

CAREFREE – The town-sponsored Saturday recycling program will end in February because the Maricopa County Waste Disposal and Recycling Center at the old Cave Creek landfill will soon be in operation.

Carefree recycling coordinator Town Councilman Bob Coady, Carefree Mayor Wayne Fulcher, recycling and town officials in both Carefree and Cave Creek consider it a “duplication of services” because the new recycling/waste center is just a few miles west of the intersection of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road.

“It’s what we hoped for when we started the program nine years ago – a permanent recycling drop-off,” Coady said. The new County facility will be open to accept recycling and solid waste four days a week by early summer.

The waste/recycling center will be located at the old landfill on the south side of the road just before the first bridge on Carefree Highway. It will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

recycle constructionConstruction to renovate the site will begin next month. County Solid Waste Management program coordinator Patience Monroe said the waste/disposal center should be up and running by the end of the fiscal year (June 30). Recycling bins, where people can place their separated recyclables, will be on site next month.

Despite massive County budget cuts, Solid Waste Department Director Bill Thorton and several County Supervisors say the funding to create the $1-million facility is safe.

The Carefree Highway facility is one of several state-of-the-art recycling/solid waste facilities being built throughout the county as a way to promote recycling and proper waste disposal.

“The two towns are already used to recycling and we are trying to make sure a lot of the waste goes there instead of into the landfill,” Monroe said. “The center will help keep communities clean and healthy by reducing the amount of waste going into landfills as well as recovering more resources for new ones.”

The center will accept 20 recyclable items free of charge. Trash, appliances, furniture and yard waste will be accepted for a fee.

Cave Creek Town Councilman Dick Esser is the Cave Creek recycling coordinator. He said the location of the new County facility will serve the recycling needs of people in Cave Creek, Carefree, Phoenix and unincorporated Maricopa County well.

“The demographics for recycling are very favorable in the northeast Valley,” he said. Many local people are already used to recycling. “The location is excellent for locals because it is not too far away.”

Coady said regular recyclers should like having a permanent facility they can access four days a week because they will no longer have to store their recyclables in the trunks of their cars or in their garages.

Photo: Surveyors were on site at the old Cave Creek landfill last week helping to prepare the site for the new Maricopa County Waste Disposal and Recycling Center, which could begin accepting recyclables next month.
Photo by Curtis Riggs