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Jacksonville Recycling Program Gets Another Look From City Council

Bob Self
/
The Florida Times-Union
The Republic Services Recycling Center on Imeson Road in Jacksonville is the place where items picked up in curbside bins get sorted. This 2017 file photo shows workers at the fast-moving conveyor belts.

The rise of home deliveries shipped in cardboard boxes plus the holiday season of gift-giving create so many opportunities for recycling that it might seem odd that Jacksonville is trying to figure out how to bolster the program that keeps trash out of the landfill by giving it a second life.

Duval County ranks 17 out of 67 counties in Florida for its recycling efforts, but when it comes to the curbside recycling that residents are most familiar with, what was once a money-maker for the city in sorting and selling material now ends up costing Jacksonville.

City Council members say one way to tackle that would be to better educate residents about the do's and don'ts of recycling. Almost 20 percent of what goes 'into curbside recycling bins ends up getting tossed after the material is picked up and sorted.

"People want to recycle," City Council member Ron Salem said. "They believe in it, but I don't think the public is educated on the specifics of what they should and shouldn't be doing."

Read the rest of this story from WJCT News partner The Florida Times-Union.