Did you know Weston collects 4,000 TONS of material from your blue bins every year? Did you know only 75% of the material Weston residents put into blue recycling bins actually gets recycled?
The rest consists of contaminated items mistakenly placed in there by residents, including plastic bags (even those holding eligible items), pizza boxes, and styrofoam. Simply raising that to 80% would take an
additional 200 tons of material from the landfi ll each year!
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
If you need it, order a FREE larger recycling bin. Standard issue recycling carts are 35-gallons.
You can trade in your cart for a 64-gallon cart by contacting Republic Services at 954-583-1830.
No plastic bags at all…they clog up the recycling machinery o If you bag your recyclables, they are automatically thrown in the landfi ll. It’s too time consuming and also a safety hazard for the workers at the recycling facility to open those bags.
No food scraps… including those remaining in containers; clean out anything which contained food
No pizza boxes with grease and oil residue or liners/wax paper glued to the box.
Not every piece of metal is recyclable…no pots, pans, metal utensils, or scrap metal o Stick to aluminum and soup style cans only.
Plastic «to go» containers and paper «to go» soda or coffee cups with wax or plastic coating and their plastic lids are not accepted.
No window glass, light bulbs, mirrors, glass cookware or bake ware, or ceramics.
To ensure proper and efficient collection, the carts must be placed correctly – facing the street, at least 3 feet away from obstacles like another cart, mailboxes, fire hydrants, trees, etc. o This gives the mechanical arms room to pick up your bin. o Otherwise, the driver has to stop, get out of the truck, create space for the mechanical arms, get back in the truck, and empty the bin.
No household garbage or other waste such as gas cylinders, tanks, rocks, dirt, building debris, flammables, small appliances.
No toys, hoses, wires, holiday lights.
I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING: Chris, how am I supposed to remember all this?! Easy…print out the recycling guide at the City’s awesome website and tape it on the inside lid of your blue bin. And, check out other tips as well. www.westonfl . org/recycling.
But Chris, why can’t I just throw everything in the blue bin and let someone else fi gure it out? Take a look at this video and you’ll see why: https://fb.watch/aJcNL0lGyv/
So, that’s it! Weston is one of the leading recycling cities in the tricounty area. Just do your small part to help us grow from 75% to 80% and keep more garbage out of our increasingly full landfi lls.
Megan photo
My campaign photo
