Recycling the Recycling Issue in UP

Because I know you Overheardians can’t get enough talk about recycling, and because there were apparently some unanswered questions still, I asked Steve Mace to weigh in again.

Bottom line: Any resident can purchase additional blue recycling bins from the city of UP, if they believe one isn’t sufficient. The city would prefer that residents not purchase non-approved cans or bins on their own, since it would force sanitation crews to have to make a decision about what’s recycling and what’s trash.

For more detail from Steve,

The volume of recycled material at a particular address: 

As I mentioned in yesterday’s response, if that volume is well above the City average, once the resident has filled the 18-gallon bin, if the volume can’t be satisfied through the continued use of the blue bags, the resident will be able to purchase additional City-marked 18-gallon bins.

The potential use of other sized bins:

With 8,500 residential customers, the issue is one of clear and quick identification.  Our sanitation crews have confidence that the material in the blue bags is intended for recycling.  The City-marked bins will provide the crews with that same level of confidence.  With bins or cans of other sizes and colors our crews may have to decide, in the course of collecting from hundreds of homes, what is and is not recycled material.  Although the purchase of non-approved cans/bins is well-intentioned, that is not ideal.

Bins getting knocked around:

After the bins have been emptied, our crews will turn them upside down.  Among other things, this will reduce the chance of a gust of wind moving the bins. 

Placement of the bins:

On the scheduled pick-up day, the bins should be placed next to the home’s trash containers.