Did you know that we were “going green” well before it was a trendy thing to do? That’s right, we’ve been a recycling center in downtown Hagerstown for a very long time!

Our recycling facility, just across Prospect St from our main facility is where we accept cardboard, newspaper and rags to be bundled, baled and sold.

Men who are enrolled in Foundations, our 13-month life recovery program, are given job assignments as part of the Life Recovery work program. These assignments consist of various jobs on the Hope Center property. Some of our residents work in the Thrift Store, Sorting Room, Check-In Office, Kitchen, Cleaning Crew or the Baling Room (recycling program). These men help to keep our operating costs down while also receiving valuable work experience which helps to rebuild personal value.

When businesses or individuals give us their recyclables, our workers separate and bale everything to be sold. Once the the bales are ready to go, the buyer sends a tractor-trailer to pick up the recycled materials. The truck averages 36 bales of recycled material. In 2011, we recycled 7 loads of cardboard. Each load is roughly 35,000 pounds which means that we recycled around 240,000 pounds of cardboard last year!

In addition to cardboard and newspaper, we bundle and sell rags or old clothing. These pieces of clothing are then sold to recyclers or agencies who re-sort and sell or distribute overseas.

Our recycling program is important to the Hope Center in several different ways. In addition to providing our residents with another important work program, the sales of the recycled material is a valuable resource in addition to financial donations and Thrift Store sales. And as Christians, we find the recycling of these materials is important to taking care of God’s creation and keeping these materials out of landfills.

Our recycling program is available to individuals and businesses. If you have cardboard or newspaper that you would like to recycle, please drop it by our Baling Center during operating hours listed below. If you have clothing, please drop off at our Sorting building on the main property located off Church Street between Walnut and Prospect Streets. All clothing items are sorted there first before being taken to either our stores or the recycling facility.

Baling Room/Recycling Center Hours: 

M-F 8:30-11:30am   12:30-1:45pm

Saturday 8:30-11:30am