By John Weare, Keep Alliance Beautiful
ALLIANCE, Neb. - Happy New Year! Keep Alliance Beautiful begins 2026 with optimism as we continue to “encourage people to reduce, reuse, and recycle every day to improve and beautify their community environment.”
Though the final volume numbers for 2025 have yet to be tallied, it appears our recycling total has increased again over the past year. The dedication of area recyclers is encouraging and we are privileged to visit with people who stop by our recycling center doors with cardboard, boxes and bags.
I have not been at KAB forever, yet I value a fresh perspective whether it be from a new employee, business owner or local resident. There are a range of approaches to recycling and we are always open to suggestions. Instead of a litany of resolutions for 2026, I desire a better dialogue with the public we serve. The recycling center’s core list of materials will stay the same this year: cardboard, paperboard, office paper, newspaper, magazines, tin and steel cans, aluminum cans, milk jugs (undyed #2 plastic), #1-#7 plastics, glass Hefty energy program (Styrofoam, pliable and other plastics), batteries and electronics.
Questions are always welcome as we cannot pass on certain materials while others require a higher volume to be processed. Partnership with the public also means respecting the guidelines of our facility and services.
Please place the appropriate clean and dry materials as marked on our trailers in Alliance and Hemingford. Also check that trash and unrecyclable materials do not make it into the trailers or curbside bags. We maintain 24/7 access to our trailers and want to curtail any dumping of items that should have been destined for a landfill.
Overall, our recyclers do a superb job. I like to field questions that may make it easier for them to reduce, reuse and recycle. It is gratifying to have a conversation then see that person return with cardboard and two bags of mixed recycling that had been going in the trash. A few tin cans here and a glass bottle there adds up.
Individual and incremental change makes a difference, however there may be community efforts that KAB can support or facilitate. In recent years we have assisted with tire amnesty events and Alliance’s community-wide cleanups. Farmers, ranchers and other county residents waited for the opportunity to save thousands of dollars and rid the environment of hundreds of tons of tires. The 2025 community-wide cleanup attracted thousands of pounds of e-waste that may not have made its way to the recycling center.
Each community is unique in how to keep it beautiful. Something that applies to the downtown of Hemingford may fail to work in Alliance. There are enough volunteers to be found for efforts small and large. Though KAB takes an active role in the day-to-day process of recycling and promotes litter prevention, we also encourage and support beautification and community improvement. January is a perfect time to plan. America’s 250th birthday this July would be a fitting incentive to make your community better for everyone.
Here’s to looking through “new eyes” that see: a better way to recycle more, litter that won’t wait for someone else to clean it up, and ownership in keeping the community beautiful.