Recycling provides services for environmentally responsible practices through the collection and processing of recyclable material in the Choctaw Nation. Reducing waste streams and returns revenue to the Tribe. Through their efforts, they are not only helping the environment, but teaching the public how to do their part.
Choctaw Nation is working to teach younger generations in its community about the importance of recycling.
Children are engaged audiences for subjects that fascinate them, especially something like the recycling process. They get excited to find out how recycling works and are usually the first ones in the family to encourage and remind others to put items in their proper recycling containers. Then they find out that at the recycling centers, there are huge mountains of paper, cardboard, plastics and Styrofoam being processed, plus forklifts, bailers and compacting machines.
Choctaw Nation recycling centers receive busloads of school children to the Durant and Poteau facilities for in-person tours. Touring the facility gives one a different perspective on the process and reminds visitors why recycling is so important. From sorting to bailing and crushing to compacting, touring the facility is educational for all to see, young and old alike. Local children and faculty also enjoy in-school visits from Choctaw Nation Going Green staff, who teach them how to recycle in their schools and homes, but they also enjoy visiting the recycling centers to see how the process works from start to finish.
When schools request in-person training at their facilities, program associates are happy to visit the schools to educate. They also discuss placing a roll-off dumpster and sorting bins inside the buildings to sort recyclable items. Schools within the reservation that now have recycling roll-offs and recycling programs include:
- Caddo Public Schools
- Caney Public Schools
- Carl Albert State College
- Clayton Elementary School
- Jones Academy
- Coalgate High School
- Cottonwood School
- Durant Public Schools
- Hartshorne Elementary School
- Howe High School
- Idabel High School
- Lukfata Public School
- Moyers Public Schools
- Parker Intermediate School –
- McAlester
- Rock Creek Elementary
- Silo Public Schools
- Stigler High School
- Talihina Elementary School
- Tushka Public Schools
- Valliant Public Schools
- Will Rogers Elementary –
- McAlester
- Wister Public Schools
Tracy Horst, Choctaw Nation’s Environmental Compliance Director, Environmental Protection Service, says it only takes a short time after visiting schools and teaching the students how to recycle until the tasks they learn become habits.
“We can save the school on their waste bill by not throwing everything in the trash to make their waste bill go down. And if they recycle, of course, it helps us from a revenue stream for the recycling aspect, but it also helps us from an environmental perspective.”
Students receive an extra treat when the Going Green program promotes contests, rewarding the grades that recycle the most with ice cream or pizza parties.
Schools within the reservation and nearby areas are encouraged to contact the Going Green team to set up services, education or tours or to review current recycling processes to ensure that all recycling opportunities are being utilized.
You don’t have to be part of a school, however, to request Going Green staff members speak to you about their processes or give you a tour of a recycling center. They’re happy to do so for universities, businesses, civic and community organizations, groups, individuals and families. Horst said, “We’re willing to talk to anybody who wants to talk about recycling, just to keep it growing!”
The program works with many businesses and agencies throughout the reservation and outlying areas to educate and assist with their recycling needs.
There are currently 127 recycling roll-offs (dumpsters) placed throughout the Choctaw Nation reservation, with some even on the outside perimeters of the reservation.
The Choctaw Nation recycling program is having a regional impact and protecting the planet. Several cities, such as Durant, McAlester, Ardmore, Oklahoma, and Paris and Sherman, Texas, are driving their recyclable materials to the Durant center for processing, not only creating jobs but also generating income for the tribe to help pay for the program.
A list of roll-off locations can be viewed at https://www.choctawnation.com/services/recycling/ along with types of items that can be recycled.
Roll-offs are sometimes purchased through grant and program funds, but many organizations also buy their own independently. When the roll-offs are full, Choctaw Nation Recycling takes care of the pickups at no cost.
Items recycled at the Durant and Poteau locations are sold, and the revenue is returned to the tribe to help pay for the program.
“Everything that comes in our roll-offs, we can process and sell,” Horst explained.
Being able to generate funds from recycling is wonderful; however, what is done for the environment is priceless. Recyclable materials that would normally end up in landfills in and around the reservation can be used again to make new items such as carpeting, cereal boxes, egg cartons, newspapers, trash bags, and much more.
Horst explained a new aspect of the Going Green Program that she was very excited about, the EPA Exchange Network Grants. The grants are about improving, gathering and using data to your advantage.
The Choctaw Nation received a three-year grant last year worth approximately $350,000. Through the grant, the program is buying equipment that will allow them to gather more data about the total number of materials coming into the recycling facilities and how they process them.
With the grant funding, the program is obtaining a sizeable drive-on scale for the Durant facility. When a truck comes in to deliver recyclable materials, it will drive onto the scales for a total weight and then again after the truck has been emptied, resulting in a total weight for the materials delivered.
Several cities, such as Durant, McAlester, Ardmore, Oklahoma, and Paris and Sherman, Texas, drive their cities’ recyclable materials to the Durant center for processing. With the new scale, the recycling center can let those cities know exactly how many pounds they brought in. It will also allow the Choctaw Nation to have more data for their own use.
Through the grant, Durant and Poteau facilities have also received Wi-Fi upgrades. They will now be able to livestream data on screens in the facilities so that staff and visitors can see how much material was sorted the previous day and how many roll-offs were brought in and unloaded.
“The employees are going to have a lot more hands-on opportunity to understand what’s going on in the facility,” said Horst.
The first month of tracking data was December 2010 with around 10,000 pounds being processed (just at the Durant Center—Poteau had not opened yet). In 2024, the program recycled almost 500,000 pounds per month, with every bit bailed, sold and reused.
The Durant and Poteau facilities have 18 associates and work closely with the Job for The Day Program. “That program is amazing for us and so helpful,” Horst said.
In addition to community services, Choctaw Recycling centers provide services to tribal facilities.
The public can drop off their recycling at any of the provided roll-offs throughout the Choctaw Nation or are welcome to drop off at one of the recycling centers in Durant or Poteau. Tours are also available and welcome.
To stay up-to-date on all things Going Green, like the group’s Facebook page or email the recycling center.