Marietta Area Recycling Center volunteer coordinator Kathy Ortt stacks newspapers in a trailer at the center Friday. Volunteers who run the center are looking for a new location and additional volunteers. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

MARIETTA — The Marietta Area Recycling Center is looking for a new home as it approaches its 50th year of volunteer-driven work to divert materials that can be reused from landfills.

“We have until May 31 to find a new site,” said Kathy Ortt, volunteer coordinator. “We really have a short timeframe to make a decision.”

That decision will depend, in part, on whether they can find additional volunteers to continue the center’s work, Ortt said.

March will mark 49 years since the center started in conjunction with the City of Marietta. When the city added curbside recycling, the center started working with the county, until the decision was made in 2010 to stop funding it and go with recycling trailers provided by the Southeastern Ohio Joint Solid Waste Management District.

But even before that, “there’s always been a volunteer component,” Ortt said. “We’ve always been kind of the backbone of recycling, to some degree, in the area.”

Barlow-area resident David Johnson empties a bag of recyclables into a can at the Marietta Area Recycling Center Friday. The center is looking for a new location and additional volunteers. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Those volunteers have sorted and sent off plastic, cardboard, paper and more from 915 Gilman Ave. for more than 30 years. But the owner of that site, Ohio Valley Spray Foam, is expanding, in part due to the fact that its products must be stored indoors in a temperature-controlled area.

“We just need more space,” Ohio Valley Spray Foam owner Josh Wiethe said.

Wiethe said the company supports the mission of the recycling center, has not increased the rent on the space since buying it and tried to give the volunteers as much lead time as possible to find a new location. Ortt said they’ve been good to work with and she understands the change is due to a business decision.

The center needs about 0.3 acres in a level spot with semi trailer access, room for a cement pad for trailers and three-phase electric for their compactor, Ortt said. But they’re also seeking about 14 new volunteers who can help with sorting and loading materials.

“Ultimately, we’re looking for people that at a minimum … volunteer for an hour a week,” Ortt said.

Marietta Area Recycling Center volunteer coordinator Kathy Ortt discusses some of the items the center leaves for people to take and reuse Friday. Volunteers who run the center are looking for a new location and additional volunteers. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Schedules can be flexible, she said. Although the center is open 24-7, it’s not staffed around the clock.

The need for volunteers dovetails with the search for a new location, Ortt said. If asking donors to contribute to the site preparation, “you want to make sure that everyone is going to be there for, let’s say, 10 years,” she said.

Trailers provided by the Solid Waste Management District are only in certain locations for a limited amount of time, Ortt said. If people miss that window, “they can either take it back to the garage and hold it another month, or they throw it away,” she said.

The center provides a convenient location for people who don’t have recycling service at their home to bring their recyclable materials, Ortt said.

David Johnson is one such resident. He lives in the Barlow area but works in Marietta and gathers enough to bring in every couple of months.

Marietta Area Recycling Center volunteer coordinator Kathy Ortt discusses some of the items, like flower pots, the center leaves for people to take and reuse Friday. Volunteers who run the center are looking for a new location and additional volunteers. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

“I’d rather it be recycled than end up in a landfill somewhere,” Johnson said Friday as he dumped a bag of plastic items in a can at the center.

The center recycles about 200 tons of material a year, Ortt said.

One thing people like about taking their recyclables to the center is “we know where everything goes,” Ortt said.

Plastics go to Mondo Polymers for use in guardrail blocks. Shredded paper is taken to Bucyrus where it’s used in cellulose insulation. Cardboard is baled at the Parkersburg Recycling Center, and glass goes to a company in Pennsylvania to be used in insulation or glass bottles.

The center receives no government funding, relying on donations and proceeds from those items.

Volunteers are looking for a new location for the Marietta Area Recycling Center after more than 30 years at 915 Gilman Ave. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

In addition, Ortt said the center promotes reusing items. Flower pots and other things people have discarded but could still be used are available to be taken. Packing materials like bubble wrap can be picked up as well.

“Doesn’t make sense to buy new if you’ve got some packing material or need to send something off to Aunt Betty,” Ortt said. “Our whole goal is to try to just get as many things out of the landfill as possible.”

People interested in volunteering at the recycling center are asked to call Sue Price at 740-525-5189.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com

Plastic products fill a can at the Marietta Area Recycling Center Friday. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Paper products are stacked in a trailer Friday at the Marietta Area Recycling Center. (Photo by Evan Bevins)