Muncie Sanitary District launching new recycling program throughout city in 2023
The Muncie Sanitary District is continuing to accept real Christmas trees for recycling at Heekin, McCulloch and Westside parks until Jan. 15. But the agency has a lot more planned for recycling in 2023.
In November the District won a $468,798.00 grant from the Recycling Market Development Board at the state for its "Do the Blue: Without the Blue Bags” program set to take effect in 2023.
The grant requires a 50% local match from MSD, said Jason Donati, storm water and recycling educator for the district. The board is part of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and MSD received the largest of nine grants awarded across the state.
As the new program's name indicates, MSD will be changing from use of blue bags for recycling. Instead residents who choose to participate will be receiving blue totes or toters similar to the green toters used for trash disposal. The state money can be used to help in the purchase of 7,000 96-gallon blue recycling toters to provide bagless recycling pickup for Muncie residents.
Donati said the toters cost about $68 a piece
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He said MSD has also budgeted the purchase of two new natural gas-powered trucks, similar to trash hauling trucks now in use, for 2023, to provide for recycle pickup by toter. The "LaBrie Right-Hand Automizer trucks" fully equipped cost between $400,000 and $500,000 each. The trucks lift and empty the toters into the truck with an automated arm on the vehicle's right side.
MSD has been using its blue bag recycling program for the Muncie community since 1998. The city has a 32% to 36% recycling rate but wants to reach a 50% recycle rate, Donati said. State officials have set a 50% goal for all of Indiana.
He said it's hoped that the use of toters in recycling will help in get more cardboard recycled. Boxes are being shipped to homes in great numbers with the use of Amazon and other online shopping sites. But the boxes are difficult to place in the blue bags.
Donati also said that some people have wound up mixing recyclables in their trash with the use of the bags, which results in a lot of time being spent sorting trash from the things that can be recycled.
Plans call for signups to start for the new program by late spring. Donati said MSD officials talked with other places that started similar programs and they recommended not simply providing a blue toter to every customer.
"It's winds up just being used as another trash toter," he said.
The people who sign up for the service want to recycle and will receive an education on what to recycle and how the system works. For instance, recyclables need to be placed in the toters without being bagged.
Participating residents can place loose mixed recyclables, including broken-down cardboard, paper, glass, plastic, tin, aluminum, and steel, in the blue toter and place at the curb for pick up. The recycle trucks will follow the same routes on the same days as trash trucks, Donati said.
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MSD also estimates the change will eliminate about 600,000 blue bags from entering the waste stream each year.
Christmas tree recycling
Donati urges those who used a real Christmas tree this season to drop them off designated space near the entrances of the city's three largest parks. Trees should not be placed in trash and sent to a landfill. Once dropped at the parks, MSD will recycle them.
Of course, all the ornaments and lights should be removed from the trees before they are dropped off.
Christmas lights can be recycled, he said, and a blue recycle toter stands at every tree drop off for residents to place their no longer usable strands of Christmas lights.
MSD’s new recycling program is expected to be up and going by the end of summer.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: MSD launching new recycling program throughout city in 2023
