The entrance to the Charleston County Recycling Center off Romney Street in downtown Charleston has a sign directing people to the center and two cardboard recycling containers, as well as two blue recycling containers.

The first drop-off container inside the gate to the Recycling Center is for cardboard.

The Charleston County Recycling Center accepts electronics for recycling as well in the big green electronics container.

It is very important to recycle motor oil. The Charleston County Recycling Center has a motor oil recycling station.

There are two drop-off locations for alkaline and ni-cad batteries.

The Charleston County Recycling Center recycles old paint. The process is done at the Bee’s Ferry Convenience Center, but the Recycling Center on Romney is a place where people can drop off used paint. Click here for information on how to buy recycled paint.

There is a container at the Recycling Center for shredded paper.

The public is allowed to have one recycling bin to utilize at home for recycling.

There is a scale at the Recycling Center where the trucks drive up to get weighed. This is how the Charleston County Recycling Center keeps track of how much is recycled.

Glass is separated at the Charleston County Recycling Center by color. One space is for green glass, one space is for brown glass and one space is for clear glass. There is also a sorting station by this area for the non-recyclables, such as Styrofoam and plastic cups.

All the plastic bottles are baled separated into number 1 plastic bottle bales and number 2 plastic bottle bales. The vendors accept the plastic bottles in bales such as this.

Cardboard is separated out on the grounds of the Recycling Center as it gets ready to be baled.

Paperboard, such as cereal boxes, is baled and awaits pick-up from recycling vendors who need paperboard to make their products.

Steel cans are separated out on the grounds of the recycling center awaiting the process of being smashed into square biscuits so that recycling vendors can pick them up and make them into something else.

Here are steel can bales ready for pick-up by recycling vendors.

Aluminum can bales are ready for pick-up by recycling vendors. The cans are smashed in a densifier and then baled so that they can be delivered to recycling vendors.

Paper is dumped in a large pile in the Recycling Center by trucks. It is then sorted and baled in the paper baler.

Shredded paper is separated out from the other paper.

Commingles (plastic bottles #1 and #2, glass bottles, aluminum cans and steel cans) are dumped in a section at the Recycling Center where they are sent up the sorting line so that they can be separated out.

Commingles are sent up the sorting line for separation.

Commingles on the sorting line. Recycling Center employees separate the different products out, such as by color for glass and plastic number 1 and number 2’s.

Please rinse recyclables and remove caps for baling and sale by type. Caps are made from a different material than the body of the bottle. Bales with cap free bottles sell for a higher price. Rinse all recyclables clean of materials that attract insects and other pests.

Aluminum cans are sorted out and sent through to the aluminum can densifier for baling.

The aluminum can densifier compacts the aluminum cans into 1,000 cans per biscuit. 96 biscuits equal one bale. Each bale weighs over 3,000 lbs.

The plastic bottle baler compacts the plastic bottles by either number 1 or number 2.

Paper bales are ready for pick-up by recycling vendors. Paper is one of the most popular products to recycle.