Bloomington city officials are cracking down on residents who throw trash in recycling bins.
In October, the city sanitation division mailed out reminders about what can and cannot be recycled, notifying residents that it would not continue to collect contaminated recycling.
Among the prohibited items were diapers and cat litter.
Public Works Department Director Adam Wason says the notices were sent only to residents who live along the Monday “A” trash and recycling pickup route.
“We just needed to make sure that folks were understanding what was acceptable for recycling: how the recycling needed to be put in the bins, in terms of being clean, not putting any types of liquids in your recycling and [we] really just wanted to make sure everyone and the residents in particular had all the correct information on what's recyclable,” he says.
The Monday “A” route spans from East Third Street to just south of East Hillside Drive, and from South Henderson Street to South High Street. It’s a neighborhood dense with Indiana University students living just south of campus.
Wason says Republic Services, which processes recycling for the city, contacted officials about an unusually high rate of contaminated recycling earlier this year. He says an ideal contamination rate is about 15 percent, and the Monday “A” route was hitting closer to 30 percent.
The higher the contamination rate, the more likely entire loads of recycling will be diverted to a landfill.
“One of the stories from one of the crews was there was a bowling ball in one; another found a bunch of cable wiring,” Wason says.
He says heavy items like bowling balls can damage expensive waste collection and sorting equipment.
Wason advises people to keep liquids and any food scraps out of recycling bins – everything should be clean and dry. And Styrofoam, though listed as a recyclable item on many of the city’s bins, is no longer accepted.
Bloomington Sanitation Letter Oct 2019 by Indiana Public Media News on Scribd
