The consolidation will happen in a couple of months, City Administrator Rob Perry told the Bradenton Herald on Thursday. Perry said the city wants to continue offering recycling to residents, but educational signs about illegal dumping have \u201cnot been effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t basically compromise the health of the city when people are irresponsible and don\u2019t comply with legal dumping requirements,\u201d said Perry, suggesting that the piles of trash left at recycling drop-offs had become a public safety hazard. \u201cSo what we\u2019re going to plan on doing is set up a collection site in the Tropicana area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city is also moving its public works department to a new area near the Tropicana facility on Ninth Street East. Perry said the new recycling drop-off site will have restricted hours so that it can be monitored, and will likely have cameras.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, quite frankly, that we have to close some of those recycling areas,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n
The City of Bradenton used to have a recycle drop-off at G.T. Bray but closed it due to illegal dumping. provided photo Courtesy of City of Bradenton Contamination, illegal dumping forces recycling changes<\/p>\n
The city offers three recycling drop-off sites, which are posted on the city\u2019s website<\/a>. Until the city changes to the Tropicana drop-off site, residents interested in recycling can visit the current sites at:<\/p>\n 100 22nd St. NE in a parking area next to the city lift station1000 24th St. E, adjacent to the Dream Center3120 First Ave. W., in the Lewis Park parking lot<\/p>\n According to Tiffany Shadik, the city\u2019s public information manager, the city began eliminating some of the drop-off sites \u201cdue to continued contamination, low use or changes at specific properties.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the primary challenges with both curbside and drop-off recycling has been contamination. When non-recyclable materials are placed in recycling containers, it can compromise entire loads, meaning recyclable materials may ultimately be diverted to the landfill,\u201d Shadik said in an email.<\/p>\n \u201cAt some locations, containers have also been misused, with bulk items such as furniture, mattresses, and other household waste left outside of the containers,\u201d Shadik continued. \u201cThis constitutes illegal dumping and has contributed to continued maintenance challenges. In some cases, these conditions have made it difficult to sustain sites long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision to consolidate recycling drop-off sites came at the city council\u2019s December workshop. City staff said the city could bring curbside recycling back, but at a cost. Either the city could reduce trash pickup to once a week and implement recycling, or keep the twice per week trash pickup and charge residents $8.47 for recycling.<\/p>\n That would increase the resident\u2019s monthly trash bill to $26.67. The city of Sarasota charges $33.02 per month and Manatee County charges $23.65 per month, both for once per week trash pickup, according to a city staff presentation.<\/p>\n However, the council debated whether it would be fair to raise the trash bill for everyone, including residents who do not recycle.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you decide to basically raise the rate to cover it would cost everybody $8\u2026but you\u2019re doing it for the benefit of 10% of the consumers,\u201d Perry said at the December workshop.<\/p>\n Councilwoman Lisa Gonzalez Moore was the strongest proponent of bringing curbside recycling back, and said she would be okay with changing to one day a week trash pickup.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, is it a good look for us to say that the friendly city doesn\u2019t recycle?\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n However, most other council members seemed against the one-day-a-week change.<\/p>\n Councilwoman Marianne Barnebey said the city would need to buy the new bins like the 96-gallon ones<\/a> that Manatee County uses, adding that she\u2019s heard complaints about the smell and cleanliness of the larger bins.<\/p>\n Barnebey said there might be some value to recycling to the environment, but guessed that, if the city asked residents if they\u2019d be willing to bring back recycling for a cost, many wouldn\u2019t want to pay for it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we also need to look at what is the value of recycling in the eyes of the majority of the people that live in the city, and I think you\u2019re seeing there is a small group that is very pro recycling and very loud about it,\u201d Barnebey said.<\/p>\n Perry said the council will be briefed at a public meeting about the upcoming changes to recycling in a couple of months.<\/p>\n The city of Bradenton used to offer a recycle drop-off site at 17th Avenue W., but officials closed it due to illegal dumping. Provided photo Courtesy of city of Bradenton City council debates changes to recycling<\/p>\n