Now that Wyoming’s primary election has come and gone, the innumerable campaign signs that popped up over the last year are starting to disappear.
But what should you do with them? What can you do with them?
Candidates who want to recycle their campaigns in the future might collect their campaign signs from the yards and businesses where they’ve been placed. If they don’t, their signs won’t be going anywhere but the nearest landfill within 30 days – unless you’re creative.
Unopposed Disposal
They’re also classified as trash by all of Wyoming's municipalities.
Mikayla Garufo, an administrative assistant with the City of Cheyenne, said all election signs have a one-way ticket straight to the trash.
“They’re considered trash because they have a weather-proof material on them,” she said. “Most people just throw them in their regular trash containers or dumpsters.”
According to Rumpke Waste & Recycling, a Cincinnati, Ohio, company that serves five Midwestern states, plastic, corrugated plastic, and laminated political yard signs are not recyclable. That also applies to the metal sign holders that keep them up.
Many of these signs are made out of corrugated plastic, which is made using a high-impact polypropylene resin. It's non-toxic and chemically inert, but that doesn't make it recyclable.
Meanwhile, any cardboard or paper political signs, including those hundreds of mailers, are considered recyclable even if they don't automatically end up in the trash.
This also applies to the enormous election signs and banners, which are made from or coated with the same material as yard signs. Those might be harder to fit in a standard trash can or dumpster without some dismemberment.
Garufo said Cheyenne and Laramie County residents have the option of taking larger signs directly to the city’s transfer station.
“They can throw them away here in our trailers, but there is a fee associated with that, depending on whether they are a city or county resident,” she said. “Otherwise, we would just ask residents to put them in trash bags and to throw them into their regular trash containers.”
Trashing Campaigns
Anyone who damages or steals a campaign sign from someone else’s property before an election can be charged with destruction of property. Does that still apply after the election?
Some states have laws regarding who’s allowed to dispose of campaign signs.
Many municipalities in North Carolina and Tennessee require campaigns to collect or remove any signs they’ve posted within 10 days after the election. In Montana, signs must be removed within 14 days.
Of course, that depends on the candidate. Now that Eric Barlow has secured the Republican nomination for Wyoming’s governor, his campaign will probably want his signs to stay up until after the general election on Nov. 3.
In Wyoming, candidates who lost their elections must have their campaign signs removed within 30 days. Gubernatorial candidates Brent Bien and Megan Degenfelder might want to collect their campaign signs for future elections, but they’ll need to be gone before the end of September.
That’s one of the few ways campaign signs can be recyclable. While they’re still classified as trash, candidates might opt to collect their campaign signs if they anticipate running for the same office again.
However, no laws mandate that candidates or campaigns collect their signs after elections. If it’s on your property, it’s your responsibility.
Upcycling
Afton attorney Carmen Patterson was seeking the Republican nomination for Lincoln County Attorney in Tuesday’s primary. She lost to Spencer Allred.
Now that the election’s over, she’s asking Lincoln County residents not to throw away her campaign signs so she can “recycle” them.
“I ran for Campbell County Attorney 12 years ago,” she said. “I kept those signs and used some of them for my run here.”
For Patterson, collecting her campaign signs is a way to save time, effort, and resources for any future elections. She’s also found they can have several unconventional non-political uses.
“I’ve put them over the tops of kennels, so you have a hard place to feed cats in the barn,” she said. “One of my friends used them to line his shop and provide some insulation. I might use these signs for another election or to line my chicken coop.”
Corrugated plastic is also a material of choice for many hobbyists because it's extremely lightweight and resistant to water and other chemicals.
Patterson had a large campaign banner sitting unused until her husband upcycled it. He spread it out and used it for butchering until Campbell decided to run for county attorney.
“He had to clean it up so I could use it again,” she said. “They can be useful.”
It’s All Trash
Americans have gotten into the habit of treating many plastics as recyclable. Most campaign signs are made of plastic, but they are definitely not recyclable.
Most U.S. municipalities with curbside recycling programs won’t accept campaign signs. Most Wyomingites don’t have to worry about that, as only the largest communities offer such programs.
"We take all of our stuff to Colorado for recycling, so unless people want to drive to recycling, I don't think that would be a problem,” Garufo said.
Ridwell is a mail-in recycling company that will pick up campaign signs via porch or curbside pickup. However, they don’t have a presence in Wyoming.
For Wyoming, the reality is that every campaign sign, successful or unsuccessful, will end up in the trash at some point. Even clean races end up in the trash.
“It depends on what people wanted to do with them, but most people just throw campaign signs into the trash,” Garufo said. “For us, it’s all trash.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
