The City of Springfield is proposing changes to its city code for solid waste and trash services. Ashley Krug with the city’s environmental services team says the current code is outdated. “Really what we are looking to do at this point in time is understanding that our code is pretty old. It hasn’t entirely been updated in several years. We wanted to look at opportunities to modernize the code, as well as to really ask our citizens, what about this currently works for you and what doesn’t? We also ask haulers what’s working for you and what doesn’t, so that we could make changes to that code in a way that benefits the entire system, both from an industry perspective as well as from a citizen perspective,” Krug said.
Krug says recycling is one of the driving forces behind the proposed changes, as a recent study shows around 42% of the material sent to the Noble Hill Landfill could have been recycled through existing programs. “We know that our landfill is filling up pretty fast, and so how do we find opportunities to expand recycling in our community? How do we find opportunities to ensure that trash is being handled responsibly, and so that we do not have additional instances of illegal dumping or, finding households that didn’t have trash service and it was piling up in a back yard,” Krug said.
“We really wanted to think about this from a standpoint on how can we address trash in our community in a way that’s environmentally responsible and efficient and best for our citizens. I definitely think, increasing opportunities for recycling was something that we heard universally from citizens. We also heard a lot from haulers. Our haulers are passionate about the recycling programs and want them to be more utilized.”