LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — According to "The Recycling Partnership," recycling is a $200B industry and yet people across Lexington are claiming the city isn't doing enough.
According to Angela Poe, the City of Lexington senior program manager, 90% of residents in Lexington and surrounding areas have trash and recycle bins. However, some residents claim the city needs a better solution.
"Only problem with the recyclable bins, a lot of people walk by and just put regular trash in the recyclable bins. They're all over the place, they're marked, but people just don't read what they see," says Marjorie Green, a recycling advocate in Lexington.
"Recycling is a way we can capture things we've used and continue to process them into something new for reuse," explains Poe.
Inside the Lexington plant is a massive operation of workers and machines, sifting through materials like glass, plastic, cartons, and fiber daily. Those items are then shipped off to be reused. Poe says the city is doing everything to aid in a clean world, but it gets difficult when the trash is mixed in with recycled materials.
Recently, the biggest issue has been medical waste found among recycled items.
"Last fiscal year, we spent over four million dollars on plant improvements. One of the big changes the public should know about is we are able to accept cartons now: Milk cartons, orange juice cartons, broth boxes, juice boxes," says Poe. "The fight here at the recycling center is things in the recycle carts that don't belong in the recycle carts."
"People just throw stuff in. I think people should know about recycling by now because it's been around for a long time. It's just that people just don't do it," admits Green.
The city of Lexington has many trash and recycling bins on its streets, alongside words of encouragement to encourage people to recycle. Still, this doesn't seem to spread the message very far.
The only items that should be recycled are bottles, plastic, glass, paper, and cardboard. All other items should be thrown away. Poe says to try to choose aluminum over glass bottles because aluminum is easier to recycle.
Poe also wants people to be aware, "Don't put your recycling in bags, make sure that you're putting it out on the curb loose, or putting it in the shared dumpsters loose."
If you're still unsure about what you should and should not recycle, visit https://www.lexingtonky.gov/recyclingfor more information.
