BRADENTON, Fla. — The City of Bradenton is revamping the way it collects recycled material from homeowners and the changes require a little help from residents.
According to city leaders, city council members voted on slowly phasing out curbside recycling collection and replacing the service with "convenience centers." Those centers will allow residents to deposit clean recyclables.
The change stems from two major factors. The city says it has been dealing with staffing shortages as well as a staggering amount of recycling material deemed "contaminated." That contamination happens when an item that isn't properly cleaned dirties other recycled items inside the trucks. If enough items are dirtied, then the entire load is deemed "contaminated."
Those contaminated loads wind up back in a landfill, according to the city.
Ten recycling "convenience centers" will be placed across the city that feature locked containers with cardboard slots and ports for recyclable goods. The city says the centers will be accessible 24 hours.
The logic is residents who are willing to recycle at the convenience centers are more likely to take the time to clean their recyclable goods, thus creating less contaminated loads, according to the city.
Due to the change, city leaders say the blue bins provided to homeowners which usually are used for recycling will eventually be used for yard waste.
Both changes are anticipated to take effect by early summer.