“We don’t look through your trash,” said Fred Stovall, Dayton’s director of public works. “But when it’s obvious that you put something in that blue recycle bin that we know is not recyclable, then you are getting tagged with an oops notification.”
Under the oops program that launched a year ago, the city issues warnings to customers whose recycling bins are found to contain items that cannot be recycled.
The first time this happens, the customer is sent a warning letter in the mail.
A second violation results in waste collection crews slapping a warning sticker on the recycling container and the customer receives an additional warning and educational materials in the mail.
If there’s a third violation, the city removes the recycling container and suspends service for one year.
Of the 3,100 customers who received an initial warning, about 420 had a second violation.
Then after that, about one-quarter of the customers who received a second warning had a third violation, and their service was revoked.
“To me, the program is very successful,” Stovall said, noting that only 3% of customers who received an initial warning had their containers removed.
The program is meant to be educational, but it turns punitive if customers don’t change their ways, officials said.
Contaminated waste contributes to recycling costs, officials said, and right now waste removal company Rumpke pays the city rebates for the clean recycling materials it provides.
But recycling that is contaminated with trash must be taken to the landfill for disposal.
The city’s efforts to educate customers about what is and is not recyclable is clearly working, said John Parker, Dayton’s waste collection manager.
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