Containers for recycling, not garbage, officials say

Garbage bags surround recycling containers

in the Wahkiakum High Shcool Parking lot

in this photo by Josh Tallman. Wahkiakum County officials this week issued a plea for citizens to support responsibly the county's recycling program.

The county Public Works Department stations recycling containers at various spots around the county so that citizens can deposit paper, cardboard, plastics and metals where they'll be recycled.

And this month, they've added new containers just for cardboard in an effort to cut recycling costs.

However, they continue to observe that there are people who also leave garbage at the containers, or they leave their recycling on the ground if the bins are full. Officials say this is a big problem because of the litter and because someone has to make a special effort to clean up the materials.

"This offends me to no end," said commission Chair George Trott. "Recycling is a costly business for us, and to leave garbage for other people to clean up is offensive."

"There is no one on the Wahkiakum County payroll who has the job of picking up materials that are left at the recycle bins," said Public Works Director Pete Ringen. "The recycle bins need to be removed from time to time so that they can be emptied. We were fortunate Wahkiakum High School allowed us to site these bins in their parking lot. Inmate crew cleanups help: however they are not geared up to go out on a continual basis and monitor this."

When the bins are full or being dumped, people should hang on to their recycling and return later to deposit it. They should deposit garbage at the county's KM drop box or subscribe to a garbage collection service, officials said.

In 2003 and 2004, the average hauling cost for the materials was $20,091.44, Ringen said. The average income for 2003 and 2004 was $1,027.75.

Officials hope the new bins for cardboard will reduce costs. Unless broken down, cardboard boxes take up a lot of room and lead to frequent hauling of bins that were full only of cardboard. The new bins have narrow slots, and people will have to flatten cardboard to deposit it. The old bins are to be relabeled for the other recycle materials.

"By adding a bin dedicated to cardboard, and reassigning the compartments on the existing bins, we hope to save on the cost of hauling the material to Longview by reducing the frequency and number of trips," Ringen said.

Funding for the new cardboard recycling boxes has been provided by the Washington Department of Ecology's coordinated prevention grant program. The grant pays for 75 percent of the cost of the new cardboard bins, which was approximately $15,000.