NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Metro leaders are recognizing America’s Recycling Day by focusing on the things people put curbside.

They want to make sure anything in a trash can can be treated and transformed into something new.

All recycling collected in Nashville is processed at a Waste Management (WM) facility in East Nashville. The city contracts with the company to sort all the paper, plastic and glass, then sell it to area factories.

On Wednesday, the groups got a behind-the-scenes look at how recycling works, including why the facility is unable to accept certain materials.

Jenn Harrman said the Waste Services Department recycles as much as it can, but people often bag items or try to recycle items they don’t accept.

“If it’s bagged material, it can’t be sorted,” Harrman said. “All of these materials end up going to landfill because of the way the process works here. Plastic bags may become wrapped around equipment. They need to shut down this equipment and remove these materials. This is simply not the right process for these materials.

Just because an item has a recycling symbol doesn’t mean it can be recycled in Nashville, Harrman said. Things should be thrown into a trash can and cleared of food waste as much as possible.

Metro is also launching a new pilot program using artificial intelligence to ensure the right items are recycled. Harrman said they hope this will reduce contamination and speed up the sorting process.

“If it’s an accepted material here, we absolutely recycle it,” Harrman said. “An aluminum can can go from this facility back onto the shelves in 60 days. »

WM employees operate machines and even sort materials by hand as they move through loaders, belts and crushers.

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