The city of Hobart has joined neighboring Portage in scrapping its curbside recycling program.
The city council voted March 20 to end the curbside program at the request of Mayor Josh Huddleston.
A news release stated the action was taken because the city couldn’t achieve compliance due to contamination in the recycling loads that rendered them unsuitable for processing, resulting in everything being sent to a landfill.
“We cannot, in good faith, continue to allow those who recycle correctly to believe that their efforts are actually making a difference,” said Huddleston.
The city’s contractor, Republic Services, was already sending all its recycling items to the landfill because of contamination.
Because curbside recycling was offered free to residents, trash bills won’t change. The release said residents can use their green lid toter as an additional garbage can. The city doesn’t plan to pick up the recycling toters.
Residents who want to continue to recycle can drop off items at the City Yard at 340 S. Shelby St.
City officials said they’ll continue to monitor the recycling market.
Meanwhile, the Portage City Council ended its curbside recycling program last month. Items weren’t being recycled anyway since the city was on suspension for compliance because of contamination of trash mixed in with recycled materials.
Portage residents who still want to recycle can take items to the compost site on U.S. 12 or the Portage Street Department.
China had been the world’s largest market for recycling materials, but in 2018 it stopped accepting paper and plastics. Recycling programs across the country have been in jeopardy because of the move.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
