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Inspectors Dontarius Morgan, left, and Gary McNair, both of Toledo, check recycling containers late last month. The city’s stream of recyclables is still cluttered with trash.
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Toledo's recyclables still trashed

THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER

Toledo's recyclables still trashed

More than 20% being lost to garbage contamination

Toledo’s stream of recyclables is still heavily trashed about a month after Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson pleaded with residents to pitch in and pitch only the right stuff.

Six weeks after the mayor held a news conference in front of city recyclables that looked heavily mixed with trash and debris, city officials said more than 20 percent of the recyclables Toledoans place at the curb are still sent to the Hoffman Road landfill because of garbage contamination. That is at least 80 cubic yards every weekday.

So far, the city is issuing friendly reminders, but fines are possible, said David Welch, the city’s commissioner of streets, bridges, and harbor.

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“We now have recycle inspectors who are going out in front of the recycle trucks to lift the lids and see what is in them,” Mr. Welch said.

“If they see plastic bags, garbage, or yard waste, they will go and put a tag on the house with a note that says they made a mistake and please don’t do it again,” he said. “The idea is we will tag the house and go back in two weeks and see if we get some compliance.”

People mistakenly think anything made of plastic can go in the city’s blue recycling carts, he said. Items such as plastic shopping bags, shower curtains, plastic plants, and toys are not recyclable, Mr. Welch said.

“We are trying to educate people and one of the big things is plastic bags,” he said. “If you have recyclables that are in a plastic bag, then that is considered garbage. Bags gum up the machinery and they have to pull trash off the line.”

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The city’s trash is picked up weekly and recyclables are picked up every two weeks by Republic Services. The recyclables are taken to a Kuhlman Corp. facility near downtown where loads are identified as either too contaminated and hauled to the dump or accepted and then hauled to be sorted by ReCommunity Recycling at its materials recycle facilities in Michigan, said Steve Klemann, regional manager for ReCommunity.

Mr. Klemann said Toledoans should deposit items such as newspapers, cardboard, aluminum cans, and plastic containers with recycle numbers into the city’s blue containers. The company only wants plastic containers or bottles that have a recycling symbol. The symbol is a number, ranging from 1 to 7, within a triangle. Anything else is trash or needs to be recycled elsewhere, he said.

The city has resisted fining residents for putting the wrong materials in recycling bins, although other cities nationwide, such as New York, will fine property owners.

Toledo can issue a $75 ticket for first violation, $150 for a second offense, and $300 the third time.

The city pays $15.2 million for its solid-waste operations. That includes paying $9.27 million annually for refuse and recyclable-material collection; $4.36 million for landfill operations and capital costs; $1.08 million to hire ReCommunity to process Toledoans’ recyclable materials, and $550,000 for administrative expenses. The city previously paid $40,000 a month for the recycling service, which recently jumped to $90,000 a month.

The problem is not unique to Toledo.

Mike Beazley, Oregon city administrator, said that city also has a recycling contamination problem.

“It is true in every community, there are consumers who put things into the recycle bins that belong elsewhere,” Mr. Beazley said.

Like Toledo, Oregon has “single stream” recycling. Residents are not required to sort recyclables and instead put everything into one container. Other cities require residents to put materials such as paper, metal, and glass in different containers. 

Ed Mikonowicz, of Waste Management, which collects refuse and recyclables in Oregon, part of Perrysburg Township, and Rossford, said the residents of those communities also contaminate at least 20 or 25 percent of the loads.

“Some folks just don’t understand truly what is recyclable or not,” he said.

Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171 or on Twitter @IgnazioMessina.

First Published July 4, 2016, 4:00 a.m.

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Inspectors Dontarius Morgan, left, and Gary McNair, both of Toledo, check recycling containers late last month. The city’s stream of recyclables is still cluttered with trash.  (THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER)  Buy Image
Welch  (THE BLADE)  Buy Image
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