Utah county opts in for recycling

Residents of Washington County and St. George, Utah, have chosen overwhelmingly to participate in a proposed curbside recycling program, according to an online article from the St. George News.

Elected officials in Washington County determined that at least 50 percent of residents would need to opt in for the curbside program to be feasible. According to the St. George News, the county’s solid waste district has announced that “87 percent of the county opted to participate in the BluCan Curbside Recycling program.”

Figures provided by the Washington County Solid Waste District (WCSW) and its District Manager Neil Schwendiman nearly 42,000 homes out of a 48,235 that qualified will be participating in the program. In St. George, the county’s largest city with about 78,000 residents, 85 percent of households elected to participate.

On its website with information about the BluCan program, the WCSW says, “Saving landfill space will make a significant impact for the area. While the current landfill has many years of use remaining, the value of reducing the current stream of waste to lengthen its life and preserve land space benefits future generations.”

Regarding collection, the WCSW says, “When Residents use BluCan, their recyclables will be picked up at their homes every other week, on their normal garbage collection day.” According to the St. George News, an estimated recycling fee of $4 per household per month may go drop to $3.10 or $3.15 per month thanks to the high participation rate.

The delivery of the blue curbside recycling bins is expected to take place in January 2016, with the program beginning the following month. Republic Services has been contracted by the WCSW to collect the recyclables, according to the article.

Paper, plastic, cardboard and metal will be welcome in the BluCan bins but glass is not on the list of accepted materials, according to the BluCan website.