Estimated read time: 1-2 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 -- Salt Lake City residents will notice a big change this fall in what's on their curbs. They will all be given a chance to recycle their yard waste instead of putting it into the garbage.
In September 2010, brown or tan bins will go to every house in Salt Lake City. Recycling program manager Debbie Lyons says yard waste, grass clippings, weeds, branches, leaves, even fruit and vegetable scraps can go in there. The first pickup will be in October.
"You have a big barbecue, you peel a bunch of watermelon and vegetables -- all that stuff can go into the yard waste bin," she said.
Lyons says they will get rid of the leaf bags that are dropped off in the fall as well and will pick up the yard waste bins year-round starting in the fall to collect all those leaves.
She says most of the stuff right now in the green garbage cans is yard waste. They hope this change cuts back on the amount going to the landfill and believe the change will increase recycling from about 20 percent now to 42 percent.
But it will cost more for residents every month, in part to pay for the increased amount of trucks and year-round yard waste pickup. The fee will go up $1.25 for those already using a yard waste bin, and the impact will be more if a resident is not using one already. The money will also go toward placing more glass recycling places around the city.
"You can mitigate the impact to your fee by downsizing your garbage can," Lyons said. "We hope people will realize they don't need a big bin anymore if they are recycling more."
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
