A city in Florida is ditching curbside recycling pick-up services because of a lack of manpower.
Recycled materials should no longer be left curbside for pick-up, according to officials in Bardenton, Florida. Residents who wish to recycle garbage must take their bags to a local drop-off location.
Rob Perry, the City Administrator for Bradenton, told Fox 13 Tampa Bay that it is not working because it is not working. It is not working for three main reasons, we don't have the staff to do four different things, which are garbage refuge, recycle, then yard waste, and bulk item pickup.
He added that it is a sad illusion that things are actually being recycled.
The recycling pick-up program would need approximately 50 workers, but there are only approximately 30 men available, according to city officials.
Residents are not properly preparing recyclable materials for processing, with more than half of the collected recyclables contaminated.
Government bodies and major corporations have been trying to make the recycling system more efficient and worthwhile. Even small design changes can help with the massive scale of consumption on some products.
Great Britain announced Tuesday that it will introduce packaging that keeps bottle caps attached to make sure customers can easily recycle the entire package.
Plastic bottle lids have been recyclable for several years, but are often discarded or littered, according to the company.
Single-use plastic bottles are still allowed in the EU. The directive states that the bottles must reduce the dispersal of container caps and lids made of plastic into the environment by attaching caps and other designs starting in 2024.