It’s been one year since the City of Sarasota launched its single-stream recycling program, and a recent study shows customers are on the right track with proper recycling and reducing contamination. The recycling composition study conducted by Kessler Consulting Inc. (KCI) earlier this year pulled representative samples from each of the City’s collection vehicles for one week, then hand-sorted them into 33 categories representing major types of recyclables and non-recyclable contamination. The study found that nearly 85 percent of the material was correctly placed in residential recycling carts. Some of the non-recyclable items identified included paper towels, plastic utensils and straws, plastic bags, clothing, construction debris, food waste, cat litter, dirty diapers, scrap metal, hoses, electronics and even full bags of garbage.

These types of contaminants can present many issues when they arrive at the recycling facility for processing, including lowering the value of the recycling streams on the secondary market and adding cost to remove and dispose of these materials. Some items like plastic bags and “tanglers” (rope, cords, hoses, etc.) can get wrapped around the facility’s sorting equipment, which can cause significant downtime, injuries to workers or damage to the equipment, thus further increasing costs that can get passed along to taxpayers.

“Our residents are doing a great job with recycling, but our goal will always be to have zero contamination,” said Public Works General Manager Todd Kucharski. “We’ll use the data from the study to refine our efforts to educate the public on the proper ways to recycle, and we look forward to conducting this same audit in the near future to see how we’ve improved as a community.” Many customers have good intentions, Kucharski said, but are guilty of “wish-cycling,” or placing items in their recycling carts in hopes that they can be recycled, even if they can’t.

For recyclable items, check the informational graphic found on the lid of 65-gallon City of Sarasota recycling cart that was delivered to customers last spring. Visit www.sarasotaFL.gov/BeCartSmart and type in an item to see how it can be properly recycled or disposed of. The City’s single-stream recycling program launched April 1, 2019. Approximately 15,000 new carts were distributed to residential customers, purchased in part with funds from a grant the City received from The Recycling Partnership. Previously, recyclables had to be separated and placed into two smaller bins. The new carts include a lid to keep materials from escaping and getting into storm drains and local waterways, as well as wheels so they can be easily rolled to the curb.

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