SOME CONFUSION LINGERS ON CITY RECYCLING

City trash collection crews have been slapping a lot of orange stickers on bags of trash in recent days. The stickers indicate that what was put by the curb was not acceptable for the recycling pickup.

Curbside pickup of recyclable trash began a week ago Tuesday. Despite the publicity, some people are confused about the recycling system and the trash pickup schedule, said Doug Kaminskey, Cape Girardeau environmental services coordinator.

"Public awareness wasn't real good that (first) week," Kaminskey said Tuesday. "There are so many people placing trash out with recyclables," he said.

In addition, he said, some people didn't separate their recyclable items. "I know one guy that had newspapers, plastic bottles and trash all in one bag."

City crews will not pick up recyclables that have not been separated, he said.

On Oct. 1, the first day of curbside pickup of recyclables, city crews left 1,500 orange stickers on residents' bags of trash, explaining that those bags could not be picked up.

"The second day was slightly less than that; the third day was a little better," said Kaminskey.

But on Monday, more than 2,000 orange stickers were distributed as many residents on the city's south side put out their regular trash instead of recyclable items, he said.

"Route 4 (on the south side) Monday was pretty bad," he said. "They are putting trash out on recycling days."

The city is divided into four sections or routes. Regular trash is picked up once a week in each section with the other pickup in each section reserved for recyclable items.

The city accepts dry newspapers, glass and plastic bottles that have been rinsed and the lids removed, and aluminum.

Kaminskey said slick magazines or mixed paper, tin cans and cereal boxes will not be accepted, and must be thrown out with the regular trash.

Those who put out recyclable items should preferably bag them in translucent plastic bags, he said. "We can't take the time to rip open and then put back the ties on all these bags."

He said that if city crews can tell what's inside by how the bags feel when they are picked up, such as trash bags containing newspapers, they will take them. Otherwise, he said, such bags will be left.

Regular dark trash bags can still be used but it would be helpful if people labeled each bag of recyclables. "Some people have used a black magic marker," Kaminskey said.

A minority of residents are currently putting out recyclable items, but Kaminskey said he hopes that down the road the city can encourage more residents to participate in the voluntary program.

In the first week, he said, the city collected 25,000 pounds of newspapers, 6,000 pounds of glass, 2,500 pounds of plastics, and 700 pounds of aluminum, mostly aluminum cans. The city also collected 5,500 pounds of corrugated cardboard but most of that was from commercial businesses that brought the material to the city's recycling center at 120 N. Broadview, pointed out Kaminskey.

Overall, Kaminskey said he is pleased with the recycling program.

He said: "All in all, it's been real good. I expect within the next couple of weeks that everybody should be accustomed to the schedule."

He said calls to the city Public Works office have been tapering off as more people become accustomed to the recycling program. "The biggest problem we are having is confusion with the collection date," he said.

Those who have questions should contact the Public Works office at 334-9151, he said.