Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority

State Funding Aims to Help Businesses, Schools, Agencies Move To Cleaner Fuel Vehicles

By • Jul 27, 2020
Amy Schirf, education coordinator at the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority, in one of the authority's trucks.
Anne Danahy / WPSU

Regan Hosterman, operations manager at the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority, started a truck that runs on compressed natural gas.

“Much quieter,” Hosterman said, comparing it with the old diesel trucks.

The compressed natural gas or CNG truck is not only less noisy — it’s cleaner. 

The authority’s move to CNG trucks is one of 18 cleaner fuel vehicle projects in 13 counties getting a total of $2.1 million in funding from the Department of Environmental Protection to support cleaner fuel vehicle projects around the state. 

Penn State No Longer Recycles Three Types Of Plastics To Reduce Contamination Among Recyclables

By • Sep 10, 2019
Penn State no longer recycles plastic bags, stretchy plastic film or miscellaneous plastics beginning the fall semester of 2019.
Min Xian / WPSU

Beginning this fall, Penn State no longer takes plastic bags, stretchy plastic film or miscellaneous plastics throughout the 15,500 recycling stations on University Park campus. 

It’s part of a plan recommended by the university’s Waste Stream Task Force to improve the overall quality of what they send to the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority.

Centre County Recycling Largely Unaffected By New Chinese Policies

By Maddie Biertempfel • Apr 9, 2019
Joanne Shafer is the Deputy Director at the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority.
Maddie Biertempfel / WPSU

Recycling authorities that used to depend on China to take their materials need new ways to dispose of or sell the material. Some communities have resorted to using landfills, incineration or stockpiling.

But in Centre County, China’s new policy hasn’t been an issue for a simple reason.

“We don’t export material to China. We never have,” said Joanne Shafer, Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority deputy director. 

Shafer said the national concerns about recycling haven’t affected Centre County in any major way.

Centre County Forced To Make Changes To Plastic Recycling Program

By Tyler Olson • Aug 14, 2018
Bales of miscellaneous plastic to be sold as recycled materia
Tyler Olson / WPSU

Centre County’s Recycling and Refuse Authority’s Miscellaneous Plastics Drop Off Program is making some changes in the type of plastics it can accept.

“We can’t take black plastic anymore, no cups, no solo cups anymore,” said Amy Schirf, education coordinator for the Recycling and Refuse Authority. “The other thing that was big was packaging. If you would open up a toothbrush and there was like that plastic packaging that goes around it – we used to take that, but we can’t take that anymore either.”

CCRRA Takes To Facebook To Stop Penn State Tailgaters From Putting Garbage In Recycling Bags

By Sarah Paez • Sep 18, 2017
Image showing paper plates, chip bags, and other trash among recyclable glass and plastic bottles
Amy Schirf / CCRRA

Amy Schirf pointed out the trash among the recyclables on the sorting line at the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority.

“We get a lot of pom poms, a lot of purses…there’s part of a cooler, bags of buns,” she said.

It's the first work day after Penn State's home game against Georgia State on Saturday and workers are sorting through the contents of the blue recyclables bags from the tailgate fields.