These are the guidlines affixed to the lid of each LRS blue recycling container. Recycling will be reinstated within the village limits in July or August to those who opt-in to the program.
The Marcellus Village Council got some good news wrapped in an apology during the regular meeting of Tuesday, June 13.
Lakeshore Recycling Service (LRS) Assistant General Manager Andre Price told the Council, “We rolled out removing the recycle bags the wrong way and we apologize for that. We’re going to bring it back.”
The “it” is not the yellow recycling bags; “it” is recycling service.
The news was received by the Council with relief albeit with a bit of skepticism. LRS, formerly Michiana Recycling, abruptly and without notice, eliminated recycling service earlier this spring leaving municipalities with contracts and residential customers dismayed and confused.
“We’ve been getting a lot of comments – not good – because we’re not recycling,” Village President Dennis Irwin said.
The disruption in service has been of great concern to the Council not only for the lack of recycling but because LRS is contractually obligated to provide it to Village residents until February 2024. Price says that LRS has acknowledged the contracts it has with local municipalities and is committed to reestablishing recycling service.
“I want to provide the best service, so you’ll want to stay with us” Price told the Council. “If we’re not doing that, then you have the right to look for other contracts. We do want to make it right. We want to make the most people as happy as possible. That’s why we are offering this to you. We wanted to make sure you’re on the front burner so we can take care of this.”
So, whew. . . for now. Recycling in Marcellus is scheduled to begin by mid-August; however, Price is hoping to get it started in July.
The service, however, is not the same. Village residents and businesses must opt-in to take advantage of recycling.
And the yellow bags? A thing of the past. LRS is replacing the yellow bags with 65-gallon containers. Those who opt-in to the service will receive one of LRS’ blue recycling containers, which means one container for trash and one for recycling.
While old habits can be hard to break, the practice of bagging recyclables must stop for the service to be effective.
“The only thing we’re asking people to do is to not put any type of bag in the container,” Price says. “They have to go in loose because our hauler considers plastic bags trash. There is no one to rip them open anymore.”
Recyclables need to be put into the containers loose, dry and relatively clean. Guidelines are affixed to each container and offer easy instructions for those wishing to recycle. Allowable items include metal, glass, paper, plastic, and cartons, although there are caveats in each category. The no-no’s, or those items considered trash, are plastic bags, big items, tanglers, food, liquid, diapers, batteries, needles, clothing, and shredded paper.
“If there are any items in the recycling container that are considered trash,” Price says, “they’re considered contaminants and we won’t touch that bin at all.”
Putting trash in recycling containers can also increase the price of disposal.
“We pay 35-dollars per ton to have it processed. If they [Himco] call it ‘trash,’ we pay another $66 in order to get rid of it. So, if we recycle it, we pay the 35 dollars and if they call it trash, the cost goes up to over 100 dollars. We could landfill it for 24 dollars per ton. That’s the difference in price when you look at recycling. That’s why we want to make sure we’re doing the best we can.”
Price explained that LRS discontinued the service because “nobody wanted it.”
“We now have a supplier who is going to take it from us. We’re actually pairing with Himco out of Elkhart. They have one of the state-of-the art facilities around here. They run the recycling through their system four times. Which means they do four passes before they say what’s left is trash. They do a good job, which is one of the reasons we’ve partnered with them.”
When the service is reinstated this summer, LRS will pick up recyclables every other week on the same day as trash pick-up, but not with one truck. On days when recyclables are scheduled for pick-up, LRS will run one truck for that and a separate truck for trash.
All good news for the Village. Recycling is returning at no additional cost. But those who live outside the village limits will have to wait.
Price says LRS is starting out small so they can better gauge capacity.
“Let’s say six months from now we see only maybe 50% participation within the Village. This means the driver has more capacity, which means we can start to expand to a larger area.
“Our plan is to keep growing the service. We want to offer it to the most people as possible. Right now, our footprint seems very small. This is not what they [LRS] had planned, but it’s what we need to do to make it right.”
For those who want to re-establish recycling service, get ready to opt-in, keep things loose, and read the top of the recycling bin.
For more information visit LRSrecycles.com.
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