Norristown's Impact Thrift Celebrates 'America Recycles Day' At New Store

NORRISTOWN, PA — Impact Thrift Stores will mark its 15th anniversary on America Recycles Day on Tuesday, Nov. 15, with cake, collection drives and commendations at its new store at 1700 Markley Street, Norristown, they announced in a news release.

A program of Keep America Beautiful, America Recycles Day is a nationally recognized day dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling in the United States.

According to organizers, the highlight of the day will be at 10 a.m., when Sustainable Waste Solutions (SWS) of Souderton will make a presentation to Impact Thrift certifying the nonprofit organization as officially “landfill free.”

Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Val Arkoosh will follow with a proclamation recognizing Impact Thrift. Representatives from the offices of U. S. Congressman Brendan Boyle and Pennsylvania State Rep. Matt Bradford also will be on hand for the presentations. A 15th birthday cake will be served.

The festivities will include an electronics and scrap metal recycling event presented by 611 Metals Recycling, LLC, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Note that televisions cannot be accepted for recycling. Impact Thrift will collect clothing and household goods all day, they announced.

According to the store, since 2012, Impact Thrift has recycled 7.5 million pounds of clothing, 1.4 million pounds of metal, 749,000 pounds of housewares, and 2.7 million pounds of books. Just since January 2016, Impact Thrift has recycled 3.3 million pounds of clothing, metal, bric-a-brac and books.

“Impact Thrift truly represents the best form of recycling,” said SWS CEO Randy Hendricks in a statement. “Donors drop off items they no longer want or need, and Impact Thrift resells, recycles or repurposes these items. Anything that can’t be sold or recycled gets burned to create electricity.”

SWS is a provider of environmentally friendly commercial and industrial waste handling solutions in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley and Delaware. In addition to their advanced recycling techniques, SWS converts waste into energy by delivering it to a state-of-the-art Energy-from-Waste (EfW) resource recovery facility. Impact Thrift recently contracted with SWS to manage its waste.

Based in Montgomeryville, Pennsylvania, Impact Thrift is a nonprofit dedicated to financially supporting local charities that work to feed the hungry, house the homeless and support children and families in need. It fulfills that mission by accepting donations of new and gently used clothing, household items and more and selling them in thrift stores in Bristol and Feasterville, Bucks County, and in Hatboro, Montgomeryville and Norristown, Montgomery County. Net proceeds support locally based nonprofits that deliver social services, allowing them to spend less time fundraising and more time helping families in need in the greater Philadelphia region. To learn more, visit impactthrift.org or connect with us on Facebook.

Image and information courtesy Rose Strong.