Lost & Found: Treasure in Trash at Juno Oregon

November 14, 2023

When you work with trash, sometimes you find a few treasures… but more often a few head scratchers. Over the years of processing municipal solid waste in Oregon, Juno® Technology Plant Manager Franz Cosenza and his team of technicians have stumbled upon a few oddities that are too good not to mention. Whether it be bowling balls, jewelry, or enough silverware to set a table for the cast of Game of Thrones, there’s no lack of surprise when it comes to these interesting items discovered in tons of trash. So, here’s just a small wagonload of the weird and wild things that our Juno Oregon team has pulled out of the recycle stream.

Household Items

We all misplace things, and on occasion, they inadvertently find their way into the trash. Being a residential waste processing plant, Juno Oregon has seen just about every household item that you may have in your kitchen, bedside table, or utility closet. Everything from doorknobs to belt buckles to flashlights and pocketknives have made their way through our processing system, and, in some cases, they still miraculously work! Funnily enough, coins and cash from all over the world make it into the system, and some even come out completely fine as US bills are made of 75% cotton and 25% linen, which makes it too tough to be broken down.

Fun & Games

Missing that 8 ball for your billiards table? We’ve got you covered. Perhaps the most common type of item that Juno Oregon sees are balls: bouncy balls, billiard balls, lacrosse balls, and more golf balls than you can count! (Must’ve been a bad day on the course…) Even classic board game pieces like dice, Mancala tiles, and marbles get picked out almost daily. Oh, and it seems that the fidget spinner craze is over because those pop up more than you’d expect. Sometimes you’ll even uncover baseball cards that are still in plastic or souvenir keychains from vacation destinations. And maybe it’s unenthused 8-year-olds or folks simply cleaning out the attic, but kid’s’ sports participation trophies and medals also trickle in, making our “awards” shelf look all the more impressive.

Construction & Tools

Whenever the plant needs some light maintenance, there’s no need for Home Depot when you have access to fencing, lumber, and tools right in the comfort of your own processing plant. Of course, while most of this stuff is unusable, there are a few items that come to the surface that actually come in handy. It could be wrenches that look good as new or a 14-piece socket set that’s put in the toolbox for future use. These tools that are seemingly tossed by mistake can turn out to be unexpectedly helpful for our resourceful team.

Curbside Curiosities

More often than not, the most exciting things that are found are the ones that make our team go, “Okay, but how did this make it here? Legitimate law enforcement badges have been scooped up, along with embroidered recognition medals and plaques. However, one item that keeps head scratching is what seems to be an Olympic commemorative medal from the 1976 Winter Olympic games in Austria!

All jokes aside, our team finds incredible value in uncovering these odd finds. Being able to repurpose and appreciate them aligns with Juno’s mission to turn trash into treasure by processing waste and circulating reclaimed materials back into the economy for future reuse. It’s what keeps us digging, not only for hidden gems but also for innovative solutions to waste processing. So, maybe think twice before throwing out that seemingly ordinary item—it could just be our next remarkable discovery!

Read more about Juno Oregon’s success here.