SALISBURY — Where can Salisbury residents recycle glass? How does recycling work?

“It’s more complicated than one would think,” said Caleb Sinclair, Environmental Management director for Rowan County.

What can and cannot be recycled curbside depends on the vendor your municipality or city is working with, he said.

The city of Salisbury is going to move from Waste Management to Republic Services for residential recycling pickup in city limits, according to a June 8 new release from the city. And glass will not be taken in the curbside recycling collection, according to the news release from the City of Salisbury.

Curbside recycling programs can be picky because the items are all together in one bin when they’re picked up, Sinclair said. Then, they’re taken to a material recovery facility, where different items are separated and sorted. Glass tends to be hard on those sorts of machines, Sinclair said. Some recyclers are being more selective on what materials they’re accepting.

So, it’s important for users to know what can and cannot be put in their curbside recycling bins, Sinclair said. If you’re not sure if something can be put in the recycling bins, then it might be better to either check or not put it in, said Craig Powers, Public Works director for the city.

“That’s going to keep the stream clean and help our process,” Powers said.

That reduces contamination and ultimately means the material can be sorted and recycled, Sinclair said.

“We really have to do our part as users of this service to get it right,” he said.

Powers said he likes to remind residents they also have access to the Rowan County recycling program as well. Glass can be taken to these self-service centers. The program is separate from the city’s. It’s self-funded and has no impact on taxpayers.

It’s what is known as “source separated,” Sinclair said. People have to bring their items to the self-service sites with different materials sorted out, as opposed to different types of materials being all together in a bin for curbside pickup.

The county accepts glass items for recycling at all of its locations. Those convenience center locations and hours are:

• Rock Grove: 205 Rock Grove Church Open Mon through Sat 7 a.m to 7 p.m.
• Dunn’s Mountain Road: 1735 Dunn’s Mountain Open Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Providence: 1985 Providence Church Open Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Woodleaf Site: 789 Campbell Road Open Mon through Sat 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Goodnight Site: 3282 Goodnight Road Open Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Stokes Ferry Site: 8835 Stokes Ferry Road Open Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A list of materials that can be recycled is available at rowancountync.gov/533/Recycling. A list of do’s and don’ts for recycling inside the city is available at salisburync.gov/Government/Public-Works/Waste-Collection.

A former convenience center on Julian Road closed in January, but the hours of other remaining sites were changed then to accommodate users, Sinclair said.

The change in the city to Republic Services in the city limits of Salisbury will take place June 22 through July 3. Residents’ green recycling cart with the yellow lid will be emptied on their scheduled service day, according to the press release. After it is emptied, residents should leave it on the curb to be collected by Waste Management. A new Republic Service blue cart should be delivered the next day.

Republic Service will begin recycling service Monday, June 6.