Curbside recycling to resume on Texas side July 1

TEXARKANA, Texas - Single-stream curbside recycling will resume July 1, and the city is reminding residents to place only the right materials in their yellow-top Waste Management recycling bins.

The program has been on hold since last year, when the processing facility in Shreveport, Louisiana, that WM was using stopped accepting recyclables. But after the City Council approval of a new plan, upgrades to a local facility and acquisition of new permits and licenses, WM is ready to again begin collecting certain recyclable waste.

Accepted materials will include clean plastic bottles and containers, clean food and beverage cans, paper, and flattened cardboard and paperboard.

Items that cannot be recycled include foods; liquids; foam cups and containers; loose plastic bags, bagged recyclables or plastic film; green waste such as tree limbs and grass clippings; clothing, furniture and carpet; batteries; and glass.

The recycling restart will include a public education effort to remind Texas-side residents what is recyclable and what is not.

WM workers will affix new labels on yellow-top recycling bins that spell out what can and cannot be placed inside. They will also hang informational cards on bins that contain inappropriate materials.

In February, the Council passed a resolution updating the city's contract with WM to account for an increase in the residential garbage collection rate. The increase is needed to pay for WM's collection of mixed recyclables and their transport to a processing facility in Arlington, Texas.

The rate will go up in two equal phases, increasing by $1.71 per month when recycling service resumes this year and by that amount again in October 2022.

The contract changes also include reducing the city's number of free waste bin removals - used for projects such as demolition and neighborhood cleanups - from 250 to 100 to offset some of the cost of recycling.

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