Changes to recycling in Newton County

Published 1:39 pm Wednesday, September 30, 2026

NEWTON COUNTY — Recently one may have noticed changes to how recycling has been happening in Newton County. These changes are the result of efforts by Charles Moore, the new recycling and solid waste manager, who took over in May of this year.

Though a part of the Ozark Mountain Solid Waste District, this department is fully funded through the county and cost-recovery efforts such as fees and charging for bags. Currently, there are eight employees, including Moore to cover all of Newton County.

While there were no significant problems when he started, Moore indicated that there was some maintenance that wasn’t able to be funded because of insufficient funding. Though he couldn’t meaningfully increase incoming funds, he decided to address an area he could stop “losing money on – to at least break even”.

The main building, built in 1991, has numerous leaks and floods when it rains. At least one of the bundlers is broken, too.

Moore is not just looking inward to cover costs. He received a $78,000 recycling grant, which has already been used to purchase a new truck (which has been ordered) and will be used to replace some important infrastructure that has deteriorated significantly.

Rates and services have remained relatively unchanged in the seven years since Moore has worked in the department. He is already implementing some changes and is mulling on others.

Solid waste — the stuff put into the yellow bags — generally covers its own expenses, as it is taken to the landfill in Northwest Arkansas and the cost of the yellow bags — the only container accepted for trash — covers the expenses of pick-up and drop-off. No immediate changes are anticipated.

One request that Moore has for customers is to put glass, especially broken glass, in a sturdy container within the yellow bag, because of concern for driver safety.

Construction debris is hauled to Harrison, where they charge by weight, while the county charges by volume. It frequently results in undercharging the local customer and the county absorbing the difference. He is considering revising the charging structure.

Recycling is the aspect where the most significant changes are occurring. To begin, they have started charging for the clear recycling bags at $0.10/bag or $2.50 for a 25-bag roll (at cost). They have also reduced the materials accepted and conditions allowed.

While people are allowed to use bags other than the official clear recycling bags, which Moore acknowledges are flimsy, if a driver thinks the bag contains non-recyclables, they will not pick it up. The same applies for bags that obviously contain garbage, dirty, or contaminated items. Also, bags that are torn before the driver arrives, like by an animal, will not be picked up.

Moore instructs the drivers to not directly engage with customers if there are concerns, instead directing them to tell the customer to contact him for clarification.

Recyclables that the county makes the most money on are — aluminum cans, cardboard, and clothes. Yes, clothes.

The others that are still accepted, can at least cover costs and keep that material out of the landfill.

Materials currently accepted:

• Plastic beverage bottles, water, soda juice, etc.

• Milk jugs

• Detergent bottles, including bleach bottles

• Tin cans

• Aluminum cans

• Clothes – no shoes, belts, curtains

• Plastic condiment bottles – ketchup, mustard, etc.

• Cardboard

**All recyclables must be emptied, rinsed out and cleaned. All boxes must be free from trash.

**Contaminated or dirty recyclables will be rejected.**

Though they had not been recycling glass for several years, they still collected it and simply ate the costs by including it in the solid waste. That has changed.

In addition to glass, other items that were previously accepted as recycling are now also considered trash, such as paper, batteries, electronic and computer equipment.

With the exception of aluminum cans and scrap metal, which are taken to Harrison for recycling, the remaining items are sorted, by hand, at the center, bundled, and picked up by ORE recycling out of Clinton.

Despite the changes, Moore encourages people to recycle. Not only does that keep the material out of the landfill, but it also enables lower cost for both the customer and the county… possibly even allowing for a little more funding for the operation.

Moore welcomes questions and concerns. Drop-off guidelines are different from pick-up. You can contact him at the center 870-446-2393.