Since the late 1990s, volunteers have helped collect recyclables in the Talkeetna community, beginning as a project at Su Valley High School with aluminum cans and newspapers. It wasn’t until 2015, that community volunteers connected with the Mat-Su Borough and Valley Community for Recycling Solutions, or VCRS, to build a more consistent program.
Recycling Committee Chair Cici Schoenberger says the effort began in 2015 by scraping together $25,000 in cash donations, grant funds, and support from local businesses to refurbish containers and build access to them.
“We opened up with one container, then we got another one pretty quickly. And then we got the stairs. So that was the $25,000.”
The following year, the Committee pulled together more funds to purchase a cardboard baler. They partnered with the Borough to build a shelter for it. That also needed three-phase power installed at the transfer station. Local businesses and donors stepped up again to make it a reality. That effort was completed in 2018.
Growing from a small idea at the high school to one with a permanent location and options, the Talkeetna Recycling Committee has met challenges at every step. Only three types of recyclables were initially taken, but today, there are multiple containers for ten types of recyclables, including plastics, aluminum, paper, and cardboard.
Two years ago, volunteers acquired a van to collect recyclables from businesses in the downtown area. Operating on a shoestring budget and lots of gumption, volunteers showed it could work. Businesses pay for the service to help cover the costs of the program.
The Recyclers also help organize the Earth Day event with VCRS and Backhaul Alaska. Electronic waste is the focus for these events, but other items also could be accepted, like the weird plastics, if there are businesses able to take them.
“We’ve done it twice a year out at Earth Day and then out at the Senior Center in the summer because they’ve gotten themselves organized and they’ve gotten more transportation. So they [Backhaul Alaska] do this Borough-wide. But it was with us at first.”
Residents recycled nearly 68 tons of plastic, cans, paper, and cardboard in the 2025 fiscal year. In prior years, recycling ranged from about 41 to 53 tons of materials. Recycling continues to grow in the Talkeetna community. And that means less going into the landfill and more being recycled for other uses.
The recycling center is open at the Talkeetna Transfer Station on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 12 to 4pm. Cardboard is only accepted on Saturdays.
Schoenberger says they are always looking for volunteers during recycling shifts, but also to serve on the Committee.
