Recycling program makes slow start

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Participants are still being sought for the curbside recycling program the City of Lockhart hopes to implement in October.

According to information distributed by Lockhart City Manager Vance Rodgers on Monday, 175 customers have not yet been recruited into the pilot curbside recycling collection program. If enough custo

mers do not sign up for the program before Sept. 1, curbside recycling collection will not begin in October.
Currently, Rodgers said, seven customers have signed up for the service.

“Curbside single-stream recycling is a method of collecting recyclable items right at the curb,” Rodgers said, addressing concerns that customers would have to sort their recycling to have it collected. “Items do not have to be pre-sorted into separate bins – simply place the items in the bin provided to you and take it to the curb.”

Based on the 175 customers Central Texas Refuse requires to begin curbside recycling collection, the per-customer fee should be $5.94. The fee will be charged monthly to all curbside recycling collection customers, regardless of whether they place recycled items at the curb in any given month.

However, Rodgers stressed, participation in the program is strictly voluntary.

“Lockhart utility customers are not required to subscribe to the program,” he said. “Subscribers would be required to make a 12-month consecutive commitment to the program and after the 12 months, the customer has the option to stop participating or automatically renew their subscription for an additional 12 months.”

Subscribers to the program will be provided an 18-gallon green recycling bin and all recyclables will be collected during the Wednesday trash collection.

Items that will be accepted under the curbside collection program include: cardboard and boxboard that is bundled; metal food cans and other metal cans; aluminum cans and containers; clear milk and plastic soda containers with the lids and caps removed; and newspaper, magazines, office paper, computer paper and phone books. Rodgers said all bottles, cans and containers should be rinsed, and that glass products will not be accepted at this time.

To enroll in curbside recycling, customers must return a sign-up form to City Hall either via mail or in person. The forms are available at City Hall or can be downloaded at www.lockhart-tx.org. If the required number of customers does not enroll in the program, those who have signed up will not be charged, but will also not have their bin delivered or recyclables collected.

For more information, call City Hall at (512) 398-3461.