Alley recycling is one step closer to becoming a thing. Just one day after Mayor Rick Kriseman tweeted that the expanded service would begin January 25th, City Council unanimously approved a public hearing finalizing the deal December 17th.
Universal Curbside Recycling launched this summer, but many residents in homes where solid waste is collected in alley ways were angry their recycling would have to be collected from the curb.
Some 40 percent of neighborhoods fall under that category. Many of those homes do not have easy access to the curb. Front yards are often fenced in and lack a place to store the bins where they can be easily moved to the curb. Homes in those traditional neighborhoods also tend to have a lot of cars parked along the streets, making access to the bins more difficult for trucks.
“Thank you for being flexible and working it out,” City Council member Karl Nurse said of the program improvement.
The city is already in the process of rolling out alley recycling pickups. Earlier this year the city purchased four smaller sanitation trucks that can fit down narrow alleyways at a cost of $1.1 million. The trucks are rear loading, which means recycling bins will be manually dumped at the back o the truck instead of using an automated arm along the side. That change is intended to avoid interference from overhead power lines.
The city is also currently in the process of clearing alleys of any debris and low hanging tree branches.
Later in the meeting council member Wengay Newton asked staff to evaluate whether or not the change from curbside to alley recycling for some residents improved participation rates.
During a report, City Council member Darden Rice pointed out that participation rates are higher than expected and contamination of recyclables is lower than expected.
Those are both positive indicators of the program’s success.
