Blue carts now line the curbs in Palm Springs as the City launches its new recycling program this week.
No longer do Palm Springs residents have to sort their recyclables. Now they can simply place them all in their new, blue, 68-gallon carts and wheel them to the curb on their scheduled collection day. Palm Springs Disposal Services (PSDS) will haul the recyclables to a central material recovery facility where they will be sorted and shipped to be processed into new products.
It is important to keep in mind that only recyclables should be placed in the carts - no garbage or trash. PSDS is also urging residents to wait until their carts are full of recyclables before putting them out at the curb on their collection day. Information about this new, free single-stream recycling program was distributed with the carts.
Some residents may opt to pay $4.72 a month for "walk-in" service. With this service, someone will bring the customer's blue carts to curb for pickup and then put back.
As a reminder, the following products can be placed in the blue bins to be recycled:
- Metal - steel and aluminium beverage, food and aerosol cans. Clean aluminium pie plates, dinner trays and foil.
- Paper - newspaper, magazines, catalogs, phone books, bulk mail, office paper, computer paper, envelopes, gift wrap, cardboard, food boxes, shoeboxes, paper towel and toilet paper tubes, paper egg cartons.
- Glass - any color of beverage bottles, food jars.
- Plastic - any bottle, jug or container and plastic shopping bags.
Please do not put the following in the carts: animal waste, bubble wrap, cactus, concrete, diapers, dirt, food waste, garden hoses, Kleenex, light bulbs, lumber, mirror glass, motor oil, padded envelopes, paper towels, plastic wrap, rocks, sharps, Styrofoam, trash or window glass. Carts containing these or other contaminates may be tagged and left uncollected. On your collection day, roll your cart to the street with the handle facing away from the street. Keep at least four feet from cars, light poles, mail boxes, etc. PSDS will be using clean-burning, CNG-powered vehicles to pick up the recyclables.
Residents can keep their old recycling tubs, or place them at the curb next to the blue bins on their collection days to be picked up.
With the new single-stream recycling program, PSDS is anticipating an increase in residential recycling from 1,450 tons to 4,500 tons per year. The move to single-stream recycling comes at no cost to residents. The City Council last year approved a one-time $2 million capital-equipment grant to buy vehicles and equipment necessary to implement the program. The money was provided from the City's Solid Waste Diversion Facility Fund.
The advantages of a single-stream recycling program are numerous. For example:
- Recycling is simplified. All recyclable materials are mixed together in one container.
- Recycling is easy, resulting in higher participation rates and increased material collection.
- Single-stream recycling offers more flexibility than other recyclingprograms by allowing the City to expand into other types of recyclables such as telephone books and mixed residential paper, without addingbins or expensive equipment.
- The wheeled containers make transportation easier and require no heavy lifting.
- The hinged lids on the containers reduce litter by preventing recyclable materials from being strewn about the street.
