Indiana City Dumps Curbside Recycling Over Expenses, Contamination

Portage, Ind. is ending its curbside recycling collection soon due to continued contamination and economic restraints as prices increase for recycling.

According to Randy Reeder, Superintendent of Streets and Sanitation, the recycling stream in the city has often been contaminated, despite efforts to right those issues. The program was suspended for more than two years because residents had been recycling incorrectly. Although residents complained that they didn’t know what could and couldn’t be recycled, the city has spent thousands of dollars on mailers trying to explain it.

Reeder notes that the recycling program starts with $180,000 annually for the two trucks collecting recyclables. In 2020, the city wasn’t charged for dropping off waste at transfer stations; putting trash in landfills costs $56 per ton. But now, it costs $105 per ton to drop off recyclables while it only costs $63.64 per ton to take everything to a landfill.

Read the full article here.