LAPLACE — Earth Day comes once a year, but St. John the Baptist Parish residents can reduce environmental pollution from waste year-round with local recycling opportunities offered through Metro Service Group Inc.

Metro representative Tanya Clark said it’s very important to the company to provide an outlet for customers who choose to recycle.

Clark said the following locations have bins for residents to drop off paper, plastic and aluminum materials: Westside Fire Station, 3347 Hwy. 18 in Edgard; Edgard Courthouse, 2393 Hwy 18; Health and Human Services, 128 Central Ave. in Reserve; the Percy Hebert Building, 1801 W. Airline Hwy. in LaPlace; and St. Andrews Fire Station, 1703 St. Andrews Blvd. in LaPlace.

A Parish recycle yard located at the Percy Hebert building in LaPlace consists of two dumpsters and several bins designated for newspaper, books, motor oil and aluminum cans. Residents are allowed to bring up to five tires a day to the recycling yard from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Newspaper, magazines, pamphlets, junk mail, envelopes, home office file folders, phone books, greeting cards and paper bags, thin cardboard, shoeboxes, cereal boxes, soda cartons, aluminum cans, aerosol cans, aluminum foil, soda and juice bottles, shampoo and conditioner bottles, bleach bottles are safe to recycle.

Though most forms of corrugated cardboard are acceptable, pizza boxes shouldn’t be recycled because paper fibers cannot be separated from oils, according to hhmcd.com.

Wet-, soiled- or food-stained paper, paper towels, facial or toilet tissue, disposable plates cups and utensils should not be recycled for the same reason.

Other items including oil-based or latex paint and solvent materials, used electronics, scrap metal and aerosol cans are not safe for regular recycling, according to Jan Herrington of Positive Results.

Herrington helped spearhead the successful 20th annual Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day earlier this month at New Wine Christian Fellowship in LaPlace and in St. Charles Parish.

She said the event enjoyed a strong community turnout. At the LaPlace location, 31 volunteers assisted 188 vehicles with drop-offs. Between St. John and St. Charles parishes, 560 vehicles dropped off materials.

The 2018 event saw the second highest participation numbers in the past five years, according to Herrington. Specific data regarding the tonnage collected is still being calculated.

“We encourage people to think about what they are throwing away,” Herrington said. “If you have a smoke detector, call the fire department for instruction. If you have medical waste, you can contact Ochsner or a local pharmacy.”

For a full list of what can be recycled, visit hhmcd.com.

Residents can also contact hotline@hhmcd.com with recycling questions.

Keep St. John Beautiful Committee Chairman Greg “Za” Maurin said there are plans to implement a parish-wide recycling campaign.

“We’re going to throw ourselves into research and development for the next three or four months to kick-off a structured recycling program,” Maurin said.

“We have someone new coming on board, and we’re going to the state legislature on Monday to see what opportunities for funding are available.”