JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The City of Jacksonville encourages its people to recycle in an environmentally conscious manner; if they do not, city personnel may choose not to empty their recycling bins.
Beginning on Monday, the city has been staffed with inspectors. It is their responsibility to verify that locals are recycling the appropriate materials in their homes.
If one does not adhere to the regulations, inspectors will place a tag that says “oops,” so they will be aware of their transgression. Orange is one of the colors, and its purpose is to act as a cautionary signal. When the bins are red, it indicates that the crews will not empty them. Greg Johnson, who makes his home on the Westside of Jacksonville, considers recycling to be the most effective way to help maintain the city of Jacksonville green.
Johnson stated, “I like to do my part to save the environment and I also like it when my neighborhood is clean.” “I get my water bottles and my cardboard out,” I say to myself.
Recycling To ensure that households are complying with the regulations, inspectors are not going to rummage through the trash and remove everything. They are instead opening the bin in order to have a cursory look inside. The inspection is better understood as an “assessment of your recycling,” according to the Vice President of the Council, Ronald Salem.
Salem is the one who is driving this project forward. He indicated to First Coast News that the presence of inspectors might end up reducing the cost to the taxpayers.
“According to the terms of our contract with the Republic, which is in charge of handling our recycling, we are allowed a waste figure of 10%. They are going to take that garbage to a landfill,” Salem elucidated.
According to the Vice President of the Council, the city will be charged for everything that is greater than 10%. The city is now at 27% as of right now.
According to Salem, the rate was in the high teens prior to the implementation of COVID. According to Salem, the city is shelling out around $250,000 to $300,000 every single day in garbage costs.
Plastic bags, shopping bags, saran wraps, sandwich bags, plastic cutlery, hangers, and medication bottles are not acceptable for recycling. This means that taxpayers who want to save money cannot recycle these types of products.
The following things, however, can be recycled in the city: paper (not shredded), newsprint, periodicals, cardboard (not from a pizza box), aluminum cans, and plastics numbered one through three, five, or seven. Bottles of detergent can be brought in. Milk containers and juice boxes are okay.
The items to be recycled must be bare, spotless, and devoid of moisture. Throw anything away in the garbage if you are unsure whether or not it needs to be recycled.
