AMY SZPARA

PHOTO: The St. John Parish Recycling Center sits behind the Percy Hebert building in LaPlace and is open to the public for newspaper, oil, aluminum cans and used tire deposits during regular business hours. (Staff Photo by Amy Szpara) LAPLACE – A fenced area which could sometimes be mistaken for a small city dump sits just behind the building that houses the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office and various administrative offices. Contrary to what it may often appear to be, the modest expanse is a recycling center, not a junkyard. The center, located behind the Percy Hebert building in LaPlace, only accepts newspapers, aluminum cans, old tires and used oil for recycling purposes, but bags full of garbage and other unwanted items keep finding their way into the place. Though St. John Parish does not have recycling pick-up services, the recycling center is available to the public for dropping off the items that are accepted there. People are not allowed to deposit any other items on the premises. According to Henry DiFranco, director of public works and utilities, recycling pick-up is not in place because of public opposition to it. It would raise the price of residential waste management bills. “If a few residents utilize the service, it’s not cost effective. It would cost as much as trash pick-up or more because recyclable materials have to be separated,” said DiFranco. “Solid waste facilities have to be pretty efficient to separate and sell the material to other companies. It’s more of a process than just dumping solid waste into a landfill.” The recycling center is maintained by the parish and Fred Trosclair Inc. of Reserve is called to pick the items up and bring them to the recycling facility when a certain amount of newspapers and cans have been collected at the facility. Oil and tires are collected by other companies. Green waste and bagged trash is not accepted at the center, either, but some residents have deposited yard waste and trash bags of garbage there. “We have a service where green waste can be picked up,” DiFranco said. Trimmed and pruned tree limbs can be hauled away by the parish if public works is contacted at 652-4815, though the service does not include picking up cut-down trees or stumps. Residents can expect between one and three days before the yard waste will be taken away. “The problem is that people do not know who to call for services,” said DiFranco, who added he is currently looking into having all telephone numbers of parish departments put on magnets to disperse to the public. The center is open to the public during regular business hours, and other parish services can be enlisted by phoning the public works office.