DEXTER, Mo. — The amount of solid waste going into the recycle bins in Dexter that is not recyclable is causing problems for city officials. In this past week alone, city workers have seen an increase in solid waste that must be sorted, divided and then loaded on trucks bound for the landfill at the city's expense.
Mark Stidham, city administrator, said the consequences of people using the recycle bins as a garbage dump will be that residents pay a higher fee for solid waste disposal or changes will have to be made in how recycled products are collected.
Stidham said the increased amount of solid waste leads to high disposal costs to the city. If it continues, the city would be forced to increase the fees to city residents. Stidham explains that the city pays for solid waste disposal based on "tonnage" and illegal disposal of materials directly increases that cost to the city.
Another option is to change the way the city collects recycled materials. Stidham said one option would be to have a central location for drop-off, with a full-time employee overseeing what is dropped off. The other option would be to mount cameras at the recycle bins to monitor who and what is dropped off at the bins. Of course, a final alternative would be to end the recycling program all together, he added.
"We are trying to offer a program that benefits residents, the Stoddard County Sheltered Workshop and the environment," Stidham says.
"It would be costly to pay a full time employee to monitor the recycle bins, and it would be inconvenient to residents who have to drive to a central location," Stidham continued. "The purchase of video cameras to monitor the bins would also be expensive for the city."
Currently the city has recycle bins at four locations: the old Save-A-Lot parking lot, by the railroad tracks on Catalpa near Wallace and Owens, the parking lot at Town and Country and the parking lot at Orscheln Farm and Home. The Stoddard County Sheltered Workshop has a bin at the Wal-Mart parking lot. All bins are serviced by the city of Dexter, Stidham says.
A recent inventory of the recycle bin at the old Save-A-Lot location included florescent light bulbs, electronic equipment, yard ornaments and scrap metal and plastic.
Currently the only plastic items taken by the city are marked #1 on the bottom, which include primarily beverage containers, and those marked #2, which are bleach and detergent containers and milk containers. They also take newspapers, cardboard and aluminum and steel cans. The city also has barrels at the end of the bins for glass, but that does not include light bulbs, mirrors or other home items made of glass. The barrels are primarily for glass jars and glass beverage containers.
Stidham says residents should help the city monitor these recycle locations by turning in violators. They can copy down license plate numbers of those using the bins as a dump and contact the city about violators, Stidham adds.
"The problem continues to grow and the solutions are costly," concludes Stidham, "The service is a benefit to everyone when used as it is intended."
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