More than 64 tons of recyclable material has been collected in the two weeks since the city of Auburn rolled out its first phase of the single-stream recycling program.
The city supplied 5,600 single-stream recycling bins to Auburn residents, allowing them to place all recyclable materials in one cart for curbside pickup.
About 95 percent of residents in areas selected for the first phase of single-stream recycling opted to participate. Previously, only about 45 percent of residents in these neighborhoods participated in the sorted curbside recycling program.
In Fiscal Year 2017, the city of Auburn recycled 1,280 tons of materials. Environmental Services Director Tim Woody anticipates more than 2,000 tons of materials will be recycled in the first year of single-stream recycling. Participation is also expected to increase by 30 percent.
The first week of the program yielded 46 tons of recyclable materials, while the second week yielded 17 tons. Woody said this was anticipated.
“We kind of expected that because a lot of folks have been holding their recyclables, waiting for this to start, and putting it out that first week,” he said.
Woody said he has had calls from many residents eager to participate in the single-stream program. Efforts are continuing to expand the program as the city hopes to have carts for all customers who are interested in participating in the single-stream recycling efforts by the end of 2018.
A $288,896 grant through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management provided the initial bins and Woody said the city will apply for a second grant in the spring. The plan is to be able to distribute more bins by late summer or fall of next year.
Woody added if the city is awarded the funds from a second grant and can add enough funds from the city budget, the best case scenario would be to distribute bins to all remaining residents at that time. Otherwise, the distribution will be a three-phase process.
“We’re just asking folks that were not included in the initial roll out to please be patient with us,” Woody said. “The grant only purchased 5,600 bins. We had to work with what we had. Our intentions are to expand the program to have bins for everyone that wants to participate.”
To read the full story, visit http://www.oanow.com/news/auburn/auburn-single-stream-recycling-boosts-recycling-participation/article_65e5e357-fa86-5abd-83ed-f19b58f439d4.html.