Columbia Solid Waste addresses canceled recycling routes last week, overflowed bins at meeting
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ.)
On Tuesday night, the City of Columbia Solid Waste met to discuss a recycling study and gave an update on its Recycling and Waste Diversion program.
This came right after recycling pick-up was put on hold twice last week. The City says it had to cancel recycling pickup on Wednesday and Friday because of a staffing shortage.
During the canceled routes last week, Columbia Solid Waste said it needed to take a brief pause to evaluate its staffing availability. The city went on to say it apologized for any inconvenience and appreciated the community's understanding.
A brief presentation was held that presented the findings from a survey RRT Design and Construction started in March. The survey results found that 18% of bottles and cans were recycled incorrectly in the city.
People who attended the meeting said this is due to college students and young people in the area who do not care to recycle correctly. Residents also claimed that if more recycle bins were put around the city, similar to how many trash bins there are, people would likely be more inclined to recycle.
In a comment on Twitter under the post about last Wednesday's canceled recycling routes, a user asked the city if roll carts could help.
Kate Vasquez -- director of planning and advisory services for solid waste at RRT design and construction -- told people at the meeting that this is out of the scope of the project, and that she wasn't able to address this.
A resident shared a picture of an overflowing recycle bin in the city to ABC 17 News. Columbia Solid Waste spokesman Matt Nestor said the city is aware of the many overflowing bins throughout the city, particularly within the last week.
"Yeah we have had staffing issues a lot in the last week or so, so it's something we are going to have to take a harder look into," Nestor said.
Nestor also said that anyone who is concerned about overflowing bins in the area should contact the CID Board. This will allow the CID to work with solid waste to come up with a solution.
"Whether that's you know an extra pick-up or a larger bin or whatever needs to happen, but they need to bring it up to the CID board," Nestor said.
Vasquez also noted that the company's next steps include looking into collection routes in the area, and deciding if recycling were to return to weekly pickup, would drop off centers still be necessary.
Solid Waste did not provide a solution for curbside recycling at the meeting, as the study won't conclude until August. Nestor said a solution could be presented to the City Council at a later date
