City of Columbia tosses the bin for recycling roll carts
July 14, 2015
COLUMBIA, SC – The City of Columbia Solid Waste Division announced that the curbside recycling program will be upgraded from the 18-gallon bins to 95-gallon roll carts for residents.
“Today, the City of Columbia has taken a major step toward expanding our efforts to build a greener community. The new recycling roll carts will not only be beneficial to our citizens, but they will also enhance the city’s ability to significantly increase the amount of recyclable items collected in our recycling program. These types of initiatives are good examples of the Build Columbia platform and help us to run, grow and transform our city,” says City Manager Teresa Wilson.
The new changes were made possible in part by the Recycling Partnership. The Recycling Partnership uses public-private partnerships to help local governments get the most out of the recycling program. The City applied for the grant early in 2014 and was announced a winner in September 2014.
The Recycling Partnership has invested $300,000 in the City’s recycling program and has provided integral technical assistance to better enhance the program. Columbia is one of four inaugural cities in the grant program.
“The Recycling Partnership is very proud to partner with the City of Columbia as an inaugural city partner. The City has all the pieces in place to drive a dramatic increase in material recovery. We especially appreciate the commitment of City officials and staff and resident’s readiness to embrace a modern recycling program,” says Executive Director Keefe Harrison.
With the roll cart upgrade, citizens will have five times the capacity for recycling and projections show a 500 percent increase in pounds per household collected. Currently, City residents average 75 pounds per household in recycling. The new roll carts also present the expectation that the garbage tonnage will decrease.
Carts will start being delivered on Monday, July 27, 2015. The delivery process will take approximately two weeks. The delivery crew will work Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents will receive an information packet with the cart that contains a letter, kitchen magnet and service card. Once residents receive the new cart, the new collection schedule will be effective immediately. Residents can keep the blue bin for indoor use or recycle it in the new cart.
Recycling will now be collected twice per month. Garbage and yard waste will remain on a weekly collection schedule. Beginning July 27, residents can visit www.columbiasc.net to download a collection calendar and sign up for reminder notifications or download the free Columbia, SC Solid Waste app on their smartphone. The mobile app is available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The City’s curbside recycling program began in 1991 with the 18-gallon bins. Throughout the past 24 years, the City has expanded its recycling program to businesses, restaurants and bars. Ongoing education and outreach efforts are targeted to increase the recycling participation rate and bring awareness to how recycling benefits the community.
For more information about the City of Columbia’s recycling program, please visit www.columbiasc.net or call Samantha Yager at 803-545-3803. To learn more about The Recycling Partnerships work in the community, please visit www.recyclecurbside.org.
