Omaha residents sent 22,523 tons of materials to be recycled in 2021 — a nearly 50% increase compared to the previous year. The year-over-year rise came with the city’s introduction of a revamped curbside recycling program. In November 2020, the city delivered a 96-gallon covered cart for recycling to almost every Omaha household (in addition to one for a mix of trash and yard waste).
Between Nov. 30, 2020, — when FCC Environmental Services took over collection of residential curbside trash, recycling and yard waste — and the end of May 2021, Omahans on average put 53% more tons of recyclable material at the curb per month compared with the same six-month span during the previous year. The trend continued through the remainder of the program’s first year, with an increase of 56% in recycling from Nov. 30, 2020, to Nov. 30, 2021, according to data shared by the city’s Public Works Department.