Company to hold 1st event Saturday at Lee Lake parking lot
Recycling in Bartlesville all but ground to a halt this year after a fire closed the Tulsa Recycle and Transfer Center facility in April. With no place to take the items dropped off at the City of Bartlesville-owned recycle center, located on 10th Street east of Virginia Avenue, the City was forced to close the center until TRT reopened or a recycling alternative could be found.
That alternative appears to have arrived recently in the form of a California-based company, aptly named “Replenysh.”
On a mission “to eliminate landfills and ocean pollution by turning every used material into nutrients for tomorrow’s creations,” Replenysh is hoping to establish “host sites” in Bartlesville for public and private recycling events, creating a win-win situation for both the company and local residents who want to recycle.
“We are thrilled to be welcomed into the Bartlesville community,” said Replenysh CEO Mark Armen. “The used materials from your community are in great demand from manufacturers and brands across the US, and our tools will help Bartlesville mobilize, collect and monetize these materials in a new way. Our long-term goal in Bartlesville is to help the community thrive by monetizing materials, not burying or burning them — and potentially attracting industry to reprocess materials locally.”
The City of Bartlesville has agreed to serve as the first host site, supporting the company in holding its first public event in Bartlesville at the City-owned Lee Lake Complex, 2700 S.E. Adams Blvd., this Saturday. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot area just off Adams Boulevard.
Accepted materials at the event are:
- Plastic PET #1 containers
- Plastic PET #1 thermoforms
- Plastic HDPE #2 containers
- Aluminum Cans
- Steel Cans
- Cardboard*
- Glass Bottles
While the City will officially serve as the first public host site for the company’s recycling events, anyone with space can become a Replenysh host and collect materials, whether from the public or a select group such as staff or students. Members can use the Replenysh app to find nearby host locations and drop off their material, which must be separated by type. The material is picked up and sent directly to brands who will reuse the material in new products.
For those wondering if the City’s recycle center at 10th Street and Virginia Avenue will reopen now that there’s another plan underway, the answer is yes — though the operation may look a little different.
“We are planning to reopen the recycle center in some fashion to serve as a permanent host site for Replenysh to collect and transfer recyclable materials,” said City Manager Mike Bailey. “We are working out the details of how that might look, and certainly we will publicize those as soon as the information is available.”
Members can learn more about how to collect material for the event at https://replenysh.com/academy. To join Replenysh, which is free, see http://join.replenysh.com/bartlesville-ok. For more information, contact Ryon Hart at ryon@replenysh.com or 323.301.7133.
*Cardboard is the only fiber accepted at the Oct. 23 event. While paper will not be accepted at this event, the company hopes to accept it in the future.