Recycling Containers

During the later part of June 2007, the City of Ellisville introduced a new larger-volume recycling container as part of the city-wide recycling program. Ellisville received a Single-Stream Recycling Program Grant in the amount of $100,000 from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District to purchase 65-gallon recycling containers for all of the single-family residences. The city was 1 of approximately 8 cities in the area that received a grant to implement the larger container into their recycling program, which has become a widespread practice on the east and west coasts. Some communities have even reversed the size of containers, with the recycling container being larger than the trash container.

Benefits

The benefit to the City of Ellisville is reducing the waste stream by increasing the material that is recycled. One major factor used by the city's contracted trash and recycling hauler when bidding is the anticipated trash tonnage, simply because the hauler pays a tipping fee based on the weight being dumped at the landfill. Reducing this amount not only saves the city money, but it also diverts recyclable goods from the landfill to be reused, which is good for the environment. Each single-family residence in the city has received a recycling container. Each container has a code stamped on it that helps track the location of the container in the event it is lost or stolen. If the container is lost, stolen or damaged, the replacement of the container will be the responsibility of the homeowner.