COLUMBIA, MO (January 6, 2015) –
The Columbia Public Works Solid Waste Division is excited to announce that you now have more choices when recycling plastics! Beginning immediately, the City of Columbia will accept plastics labeled 1 through 7 in the recycling stream via curbside or drop-off collection.
You can now place plastics labeled 1 through 7 on the container in your blue bag for curbside recycling or place those materials in the drop-off recycling bins located in various locations in Columbia. A few examples of new materials collected include plastic drinking cups, plastic food containers such as yogurt cups, and empty plastic prescription bottles.
Plastics still not collected include plastic grocery/convenience store bags, plastic straws, plastic drink cup lids and plastic newspaper sleeves.
"Columbia's diversion rate, the items recycled and not placed in the landfill, is only 17 percent," said Barbara Buffaloe, Columbia sustainability manager. "Our goal, over the next few years, is to increase the diversion rate to or above the national average of 34 percent. Collecting more items is a great start!"
"We know our customers have been asking us to increase the types of plastics they can place in the recycling stream," said John Glascock, director of Public Works. "We're pleased that we have been able to reconfigure our Material Recovery Facility to accept these additional plastics and that we have been able to find a buyer for the materials."
The city's website will be updated soon to further assist customers in identifying what materials can be recycled, as well as those which can not.