Changes are in store for the borough's recycling program.
Collection of recyclables no longer will be conducted at the municipal lot, according to recycling chairman Mike Picardo.
There will be two separate recycling programs operating simultaneously.
One will be operated by the borough's garbage collection contractor, Waste Management, that includes collection of plastics, cans and glass. The other will be operated by Abitibi, a company that will accept newsprint and magazines, and give proceeds to local nonprofit organizations.
Starting Dec. 3, recyclables will be collected by Waste Management on the first and third Saturday of each month from 8:30 to 11 a.m. near Aspinwall Marina. Collection will be self-serve, Picardo advises, but volunteers will be on hand to help.
Glass, plastics numbered 1 and 2, and bi-metal will be accepted. Materials do not need to be sorted. Cardboard also will be accepted, but it must be flattened.
Sometime next week, Abitibi will place four recycling bins at various locations throughout the borough.
The company will collect newsprint, along with magazines, glossy paper -- except phone books. The proceeds from collection go to local non-profit organizations.
Residents will be able to support their favorite community organizations by saving old newspapers and magazines.
There is no cost to the borough and the company will pay for the material based on tonnage. Abitibi's collection bins will be situated at four locations: the municipal lot, to benefit the Civic Association; Firemen's Memorial Park, to benefit the fire department; the baseball field, to benefit the baseball association; and the borough water plant, to benefit area schools.
These bins will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Because the borough has fewer than 5,000 homes, recycling is not mandatory.
When the borough was considering a new garbage collection contract earlier this year, some residents expressed an interest in a curbside recycling program, but that proved to be too expensive.
A curbside program almost would have doubled current collection fees. Instead, council chose to add the single-site program to the Waste Management contract, which cost customers just $5 more per year, or $1.25 per quarter.
Dana McGrath is a staff writer for The Herald of Aspinwall.
