Starting July 1, homeowners within the city who have blue recycling bins will see an increase of twenty-five cents in the monthly fee for every-other-week curbside pickup.
“After a little more than six years of curbside recycling service in Las Cruces, Friedman Recycling has raised their collection fees, which results in the small increase for approximately 31,500 households with curbside access to recycling,” explains Patrick Peck, Executive Director of the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA). The increase will raise monthly rates from $5.15 to $5.40.
Residents will see the increase in the solid waste section of their monthly utility bill from Las Cruces Utilities starting in July 2017.
The rate to service (or empty) 6-cubic yard commercial recycling dumpsters is also increasing from $50.00 to $52.50 per month for once-a-week servicing. Commerical containers may be serviced up to 5 days per week; please see the cost for additional service days at https://scswa.net/commercialrecycling/
“Recycling markets are showing strength,” notes Peck. “A year and a half ago we were able to drop rates by 47-cents a month; if recycling markets continue to show improvement in the long run, we would be open to lowering the rate again.”
Tarkeysha Burton, SCSWA Recycling Coordinator, notes, “Overall we’re going great with recycling in Las Cruces, and our recycling rate continues to grow! Our biggest problem, however, continues to be food contamination of materials and ‘aspirational recycling.’ Aspirational recyclers are those who are trying to do the right thing and want to recycle everything! But we can only accept those items for which Friedman Recycling has established markets to process those materials into new products.”
The list of acceptable materials is lengthy! You can read the list – it’s printed on top of your blue curbside bin – or go on line to https://scswa.net/what-to-recycle/
Thank you for recycling!
Green Connections is submitted by the South Central Solid Waste Authority (SCSWA), managing solid waste, recyclables, and fighting illegal dumping for residents and businesses in the City of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County. You can reach the SCSWA at (575) 528-3800 or visit www.TheScrappyPages.com