Almost everyone agrees that recycling is one way that humans can mitigate the effects that waste and landfills have on the environment. Yet, not everyone recycles, but those who do expect that their recyclables will be … recycled.One Kings Deer (Monument) resident (who wished to remain anonymous) watched as his garbage collectors, U.S. Waste, picked up the items he had left for recycling and tossed them in the back of the regular garbage truck, alongside his trash.He said he called U.S. Waste to inform them of the incident, and a customer services’ representative apologized and offered to waive the recycling fees for the next couple of weeks. When pressed further on the frequency of this occurrence, the U.S. Waste employee offered extra compensation.Dave Sanders, U.S. Waste general manager, said he had not heard about the incident. “This is the first I have heard about this,” he said. “That’s not how we do business. We certainly do not encourage this, especially since people are paying to have this kind of service.” Sanders said the normal procedure is to have the recycled items picked up by one of their residential recycling trucks.According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site, recycling efforts have progressed. “In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, this country recycles 28 percent of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.”The EPA also addresses facts about curbside recycling versus on-site drop off. “Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States, which collected several materials at the curb. By 1998, 9,000 curbside programs and 12,000 recyclable drop-off centers had sprouted up across the nation.”Depending on the city, collections for recyclable items vary. Some cities offer free curbside pick up while others charge a small fee. If curbside pick up is not an option, cities often place sectioned containers at various locations throughout the community. Of course, recycling centers offer yet another option.Colorado Springs has primarily two main recycling centers – Recycle America, located on Fourth Street, and Recycle Depot on E. Platte Ave. These also serve as transfer stations for the commercial trash and recycling collection companies. A customer service representative from Recycle America said items that are brought to its recycling center are generally sent out of state to be broken down and processed into useable material.Information obtained from customer service representatives at each of the following trash and recycling collection agencies:Bestway Disposal
- Cost to have recyclables picked up is included in total monthly fee for garbage collection service
- Paper and plastic bags are suitable for recycle pick up
- Recyclables are picked up every week at the same time as the garbage collection
- Recyclables can be collected by a separate recycling truck or picked up during trash collection and stored in caged bins on the side of the garbage truck.
- Collected recyclables are taken to Recycle America
- Cost to have recyclables picked up is $3.50/month – with or without trash service
- $10 deposit required for recycle collection bin
- Recyclables are picked up every other week at the same time as the garbage collection
- Recyclables are collected by a separate recycling truck
- Collected recyclables are taken to a transfer station in Colorado Springs and then sent out of state
- Cost to have recyclables picked up is an additional $3.50/month with trash service; $11.50/month without trash service
- $15 deposit required for recycle collection bin
- Recyclables are picked up every other week at the same time as the garbage collection
- Recyclables are collected by a separate recycling truck
- Collected recyclables are taken to Recycle America
