Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Getting picked up in Salt Lake County just got a lot easier.
Beginning Sept. 1, residents in unincorporated Salt Lake County and five contract cities will have weekly pickup of their recyclable items. Presently, the county picks up recycling bins every other week. Garbage will continue to be picked up on a weekly basis.
Residents of the unincorporated county, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Taylorsville, Herriman and a portion of Murray will pay $24 more a year for the additional service, or a total of $156 a year.
What we found going into that black garbage can, depending upon seasonality, was that up to 60 percent was recycling.
–Pam Roberts
Pam Roberts, director of Salt Lake County's sanitation division, said the weekly pickup of recyclable refuse was instituted because of consumer demand, users' willingness to pay for it and as a mean to reduce the amount of recyclable materials ending up in the landfill needlessly.
The additional revenue will cover the costs of buying three side- loading trucks, hiring six drivers and a quality-assurance educator to help implement weekly recycling collection.
Waste audits conducted by the county revealed a disturbing trend, Roberts said. "What we found going into that black garbage can, depending upon seasonality, was that up to 60 percent was recycling," Roberts said.
Education efforts, which have included fliers and stop signs attached to garbage receptacles encouraging users to think twice before tossing something potentially recyclable in the garbage, have had some success, Roberts said. But further improvements are needed because recyclable items in trash cans take up space in the landfill.
- Holladay, Cottonwood Heights, Taylorsville, Herriman and a portion of Murray
- $24 more a year or a total of $156 a year
- Revenue will cover the costs of three side-loading trucks, hiring six drivers and a quality-assurance educator
Roberts said weekly pickups of recyclable material will add about 13 months of life to the Salt Lake Valley Landfill.
The unincorporated county and affected municipalities will become the fifth service area within the county to provide weekly recycling collections. In some cases, the increased rates will be less expensive than some municipalities that pick up recycling items every other week.
Roberts said the fee increases, which will generate more than $1 million in new revenue, are also needed to address rising fuel costs, dump fees and maintenance costs,
"Internally, we have made big adjustments to increase efficiencies in 2010," Roberts said. The division absorbed 86 percent of a $500,000 in costs increases but it has reached the point that it simply needs more revenue to meet customer needs, she said.
Email:mcortez@ksl.com
