If Toledo residents could figure out how to keep garbage and recyclables separated, the city could stop wasting more than $1 million a year.
Nearly 40 percent of the material city residents put in their blue recycling containers every other week ends up in a landfill because they are also tossing in nonrecyclable items — plastic bags, garbage — that “contaminate” the collection of recyclable materials and force garbage crews to dump the whole load in the landfill.
Toledo will pay about $1.5 million this year for ReCommunity Recycling to process its recyclable materials. When almost half of the city’s “recycling” cannot even be recycled because it ends up in a landfill, this money is wasted. Last year’s fee was $1.08 million, but the cost has gone up because workers have to spend too much time sorting through Toledo’s contaminated recyclables.
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Recycling is just not that hard, and it is past time for Toledoans to learn how to sort and toss their garbage properly. The city has been more than patient, handing out warnings and attempting to educate residents. Officials should start handing out citations.
Toledo officials have the authority to issue a $75 ticket for a first violation, $150 for a second offense, and $300 the third time. Maybe it would only take a few citations for residents to improve their sorting skills.
Even if residents are not interested in reducing the expense created by improperly sorted waste, they ought to consider the environmental consequences of filling up landfills with recyclable material. Recycling is one of the easiest ways to contribute to a sustainable planet.
There is plenty of evidence that people in Toledo care about the environment. This community is pressuring state and federal authorities to take bold steps to address pollution in Lake Erie. This is a city where a giant solar array powers the zoo. This is a city working on a plan to replace all old-fashioned, inefficient street lights with new, energy-saving LED lights.
So it is time for citizens to step up and do their part — it is really a very small gesture — and properly sort their garbage so recyclables can be recycled and landfills do not get clogged with materials that should not be there.
First Published June 30, 2017, 4:00 a.m.