JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — We are now barely a month away from curbside recycling pickup services returning to the City of Jacksonville on Monday, April 4th.
On Thurs. morning, city leaders took a closer look at some of the major safety issues related to how people are recycling.
“We really don’t know at the end of the day what’s gonna come out,” said Bill Brinkley, General Manager at Republic Services, pointing to a plastic garbage bag as part of his demonstration for the City of Jacksonville’s four-member special committee on Solid Waste, in which he highlighted what they are seeing at his facilities.
STORY: Return of curbside pickup in Jacksonville: Republic Services asks people to watch what they recycle
“We had needle sticks you know, scapes, cuts, it’s just - we don’t wanna put our employees at risk in the assortment lines,” he added.
Brinkley explained that he’d like to collaborate with the city to educate people on what to do, before curbside pickup returns on April 4th.
The biggest takeaway: Do not use a plastic bag to recycle your items. It will end up in the waste pile.
When it comes to cardboard, make sure it’s clean without any food grease stains, make sure your hard plastics are dry, and with a lid.
Brinkley also said don’t focus too much on the recyclable codes, but if you can poke a hole through it, you cannot recycle it.
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Aside from a marketing campaign, the city is also weighing whether or not to keep glass items on the list of recyclables.
“Its inclusion in the [city] ordinance is not citing it as a legal requirement,” remarked Brian Hughes, the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Jacksonville. “We have the ability, contractually, to eliminate glass.”
Right now, it’s costing more to ship those items out.
“There are beneficial reuses for glass, it’s not a profitable commodity at the moment,” Brinkley added.
The committee is now deferring to the mayor’s office and the experts to make a final decision on glass items, which could be announced as soon as Tuesday.
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