I had the opportunity to hear a representative from Republic Waste speak at Rotary last week. The theme for Rotary in March is “Water and Sanitation”. Johnny Lambert gave us an update on Davie County Utilities and Chuck Willis, the engineer for the Town of Mocksville, has updated us regarding what is going on with the infrastructure in Mocksville. After the presentation by Tom Krasenko with Republic Waste, I wanted to pass along some information on recycling we all need to be aware of.

When it comes to recycling, everyone has a part to play. When we work together we can make sure recyclable materials don’t end up in our lakes and landfills. Believe it or not, the Rowan County landfill, where we send Davie County’s solid waste, does not have an infinite capacity for our trash.

Recycling materials that can be used over and over will prolong the life of the landfill, which pushes out the future need to find another site. The presence of contaminants in our recycling material is one of the reasons why Davie County discontinued county-wide recycling. We can control the cost of recycling by making sure we only put approved items in the recycling bin.

The items that can be recycled:

  • Flattened Cardboard
  • Paper
  • Metal Cans
  • Plastic Bottles & Jugs

Items that cannot be recycled:

  • Plastic Bags (grocery bags)
  • Pizza Boxes
  • Styrofoam
  • Glass Bottles
  • Clothing and Shoes
  • Batteries
  • Electronics
  • Yard Waste
  • Scrap Metal


There are facilities that will take batteries, metal, clothing and electronics. However, those items are not to be put out in the blue cans provided by Republic. Please clean out and empty any liquid left in bottles and cans. Don’t bag the recyclable materials – leave them loose.

There are some cities that have to send their recyclables across state lines to facilities for processing, which increases the overall cost due to freight charges. Luckily, Republic has a processing center nearby. Keeping the cost of recycling low is important in order to prevent the materials from having to go to the landfill. If you want to be part of a better “Green New Deal” – join me in our effort to recycle. Think about future generations and the well-being of our town.

Will Marklin
Mocksville Mayor