Curbside Recycling Program Could Expand
Update: The curbside recycling program item has been deleted from Tuesday’s El Paso City Council agenda.
Previous story: El Paso’s City Council will consider expanding the curbside recycling program to include more plastics.
Currently, only plastics No. 1 and No. 2, such as bottles and milk jugs, are recyclable as part of the program. The director of Environmental Services told ABC-7 the recycling plant that takes care of El Paso’s recycling is now equipped to handle plastics No. 3 through No. 7, things like cups and food containers. Plastic bags like the ones found in area grocery stores will also be allowed.
“What we need you to do is bag the bags,” explained Ellen Smyth, Director of Environmental Services. “So just take one of your bags and fill it up with all the other bags.
“It has to be clean bags,” Smyth added. “If there’s anything paper in the bag it messes up the system.”
If the city approves the upgrade, the change would take effect immediately.
With the expansion comes a crackdown. Code enforcement officers will be used to make sure residents who put their blue bins to the curb are following recycling protocol.
“We’ll just pick a street and look in the blue bin,” said Smyth. “If it’s clean, OK. If it’s not, they’ll tag it so the driver knows to just skip it.”
The tag will be the resident’s first warning to clean their blue bin of nonrecyclable items. Three tags will lead to the seizure of the blue bin.
The city’s website lists the items that are recyclable in the blue bin:
Paper: Corrugated cardboard, brown paper bags, newspapers with inserts, magazines, junk mail, white bond paper, colored bond paper and computer paper Plastic: Clear No. 1 plastic, colored No. 2 plastic containers, clear or opaque non-colored No. 2 plastic containers (look for the number at the bottom of each container) Metals: Aluminum cans, steel, tin and bimetallic cans, aluminum foil and baking tins
City Council could vote to expand the recyclable plastics to Nos. 3-7 Tuesday during its regular meeting. Check ABC-7’s later newscasts and kvia.com for an update.
