Harrisonburg is working to up it’s efforts to go green. The City’s most recent Environmental Action Plan lays out a number of recycling-related goals. The local push for more recycling began in 2018, with the opening of the recycling convenience center. Kelly Adams with Harrisonburg Public Works says, with the upcoming launch of a new toter-trash program, reducing waste is once again a priority. “The more people recycle, the better it is for everybody now and into the future,” Adams says. “The less that goes into the landfill, the better off we are.”
The new toter-trash carts are expected to roll out next month, in March. Adams says, this programs will hopefully encourage more people to separate recyclable items from other trash. According to Harrisonburg Public Works, many municipalities don’t accept certain items to recycle, such as pizza boxes or plastic bags, but Harrisonburg does. Each item category is then properly distributed to recycling vendors. “You bring your things here to us, and it goes in one of these bins. It does go to a third party for recycling, it doesn’t go to the landfill,” said Adams. “We have a plan for it to be recycled and reused.”