Drive-thru recycle facility helps Norman go green by recycling the big stuff

Olivia Staff, The Oklahoma Daily

A new Norman Recycling Center, 1499 N. Porter Ave., opened Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The center can recycle paper, plastic, glass, cardboard and newspaper.

In an effort to help Normanites go green, a new facility opened its doors to accept the tougher things for people to recycle, such as nonferrous metals, appliances and electronics.

Cornerstone Metals Recycling, which planted a branch April 25 in Norman, tries to make it easy to recycle by providing a drive-thru garage for those hard-to-haul objects, said Modele Segun, facility business manager.

“Some other places you have to park outside and haul everything inside, but over here you can just drive right up to the scale,” Segun said.

Though metal pricing can be very volatile, but Cornerstone’s prices are comparable with everybody else in the area, Segun said.

One of the main reasons the company expanded into Norman is because its research showed the area is a very green community, company president Jide Famuagun said.

“We are very excited about our entry into the Norman area,” Famuagun said. “We encourage both businesses and individuals in Norman and surrounding areas to stay green and recycle with us for the benefit of our environment.”

Cornerstone also helps raise awareness about recycling by holding a science fest at the zoo every year for fourth and fifth graders.

The Norman facility is not currently accepting commercial volumes of iron scrap or other ferrous metals, but the Oklahoma City branch does. People with these materials can schedule a pickup or deliver the metals themselves to the branch in Oklahoma City.

A list of all accepted materials can be found on the company’s website.

Emily Isbill

Emily is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Campus Reporter and Life & Arts Reporter.