El Paso curbside recycling pickup resumes Tuesday, but check your schedule

UPDATE, Jan. 13: City officials have now released new details on the phasing in of every-other-week curbside recycling routes in El Paso that will begin this upcoming Tuesday.

"Not all homes will have their blue bins collected next week. The routes will be phased in. All customers should have the service restored by the second week in February," the city said in a statement.

To find the new recycling collection date for your neighborhood, officials said you can now visit elpasoesd.net/home/schedule.htm and input your address.

Residents may also call (915) 212-6000 for more information.

ORIGINAL REPORT, Jan. 7: EL PASO, Texas – The city of El Paso is bringing back curbside recycling pickup later this month but it could end up costing you more in the long run.

Recycling routes will be phased in starting the week of Jan. 19. All customers should have their curbside recycling services restored by the second week of February.

The phased-in approach will enable the Environmental Services Department to get back to every other week of collecting recyclables.

Ellen Smyth, the managing director for the city's Environmental Services Department, said the big takeaway during the suspension was that El Paso has a "huge desire for this program, regardless of costs."

The city will look at possibly expanding the program and adding additional drivers. Of course, that process will include looking at the rates the city is charging, she said.

The city suspended curbside recycling due to staffing shortages related to the pandemic. After the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Citizen Collection Sites, where residents were told to bring their recyclables, had long lines that sometimes disrupted traffic.

“We want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during this period,” Smyth said. “We did not want to halt recycling collections, but unfortunately we were faced with making a hard decision. We have been monitoring our available staffing and resources and I’m happy to announce that we will be restoring recycling collections on a phased-in approach.”

Starting next week, customers will be able to check their updated recycling collection schedule by visiting www.elpasotexas.gov/esd.

Customers may also call (915) 212-6000 for more information.