By Steve Davies,
Healthy Planet Columnist
In last month’s column a question about the City of Chesterfield Recycling program was sent to me. The question was, does the City of Chesterfield indeed recycle? From what we were told by a Chesterfield resident that the City of Chesterfield does offer everyone two bins, one for trash and one for recyclables. That being said however, this person incorrectly believed that their trash collectors apparently send everything to one dump.
For clarification, the first thing I did was email Republic Services to see but unfortunately, I never heard back. After a second attempt, I then decided to email the Solid Waste & Recycling division at the City of Chesterfield and this time I heard back from James A. Eckrich, PE, Director of Public Works / City Engineer who said:
Mr. Davies – the allegation below is certainly incorrect. Susan Piazza is our Municipal Account Manager. If you have questions regarding recycling please email her directly and she will respond or ask someone from the Republic to do so on her behalf.
Then I got a follow up email from Ms. Piazza, where she said:
Thank you, Jim. Mr. Davies, I can assure you that your recycling is being sorted at our recycling facility (in Hazelwood), baled, and shipped to buyers. Here is a link that aired on Channel 9, which is a tour of our Hazelwood plant (scroll down to second picture on the screen on this link)
http://www.ninenet.org/blogs/living-st-louis/recycling/
Happy to discuss with you anytime you wish or answer any lingering questions.
After watching the video, I have to say, it was very educational. For example, I went to the recycleresponsibly.org website and found several resources that I haven’t seen before. I would also be curious to see what’s changed in the last five years.
The word I heard most often in the video was contamination and for me, that leads to a discussion of education and in turn, I think it’s a two-way street. Looking at ways for places that accept recycling, be it businesses or cities, to find ways to help educate the public. At the same time, giving the public the resources and encouraging them to ask questions.
Helping people learn what can and can’t be thrown in their bins is important. I also think that’s part of what I can do. So, if anyone has questions, by all means, feel free to ask me. I think it also gives me more motivation to ask other cities what they’re doing like the City of Kirkwood, where I live.
With recycling questions or comments contact me at thprecycler@yahoo.com