BROOKINGS (11-12-26) — The City of Brookings will be inspecting curbside recycling cart inspections next week.
Brookings City Council Member Lisa Hager… “November 19th and 20th, the Solid Waste Division will inspect approximately 400 residential recycling carts throughout Brookings. They will simply open the cart lids just to look to see if there’s any visible contamination — so they’re not going to rummage around or anything like that. Your recycling will still be picked up at that particular point in time, but anyone with a contaminated cart will receive an educational tag explaining what was incorrect about their particular…”
She said they’ve had complaints about contamination at the recycling center… “The issue is the fact that our recycling partner, Millennium Recycling, has reported increased contamination that causes equipment damage, operational shutdowns and additional costs.”
Hager said recycling continues to prove popular in Brookings… “The data we received is about 82 percent of Brookings residents recycle — which is wonderful — but only 17 percent recycle correctly. So we do have a steep hill to climb with some educational efforts there, but I think these are easy corrections. A lot of it is probably just simply out of ignorance.”
The inspections will focus on the four top contaminants: bagged materials, plastic bags, Styrofoam and bulky plastics like 5-gallon buckets and plastic toys.
In a November 9 media release, City Solid Waste Business Operations Manager Katie Stiegelmeier said, “These contaminants can lead to shutdowns, delays in processing, and fees charged back to the City as a hauler for contaminated loads.”
More information on what’s allowed and not allowed in recycling carts is posted at the City of Brookings website: https://www.cityofbrookings-sd.gov/928/What-Goes-Where-Search-Tool
— Brookings Radio News
