Lewis County outreach project will help customers identify recyclable items

CHEHALIS – Determining what to place in your curbside recycling container and what goes in the garbage will soon become easier for you, thanks to a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE).

Beginning Monday, Apr. 17, a cart-tagging project will educate recycling customers in an effort to reduce the amount of garbage that goes into curbside recycling bins.

The educational tags placed on all 20,000 recycling carts in Lewis County will list the materials customers should include in curbside containers. The other side will remind them to keep their recyclables loose – not bagged – and to keep plastic bags out of the recycling cart. Some customers will be given personalized feedback in the form of a report card identifying items that shouldn’t be placed in a recycling bin.

“The goal of the project is to reduce contamination, or garbage, in curbside recycling carts, and help get more materials recycled,” Melanie Case, recycling program coordinator for the Lewis County Department of Public Works, Solid Waste Utility said.

The county received the DOE Waste Reduction and Recycling Education grant to conduct two contamination reduction projects. In addition to the cart-tagging project, the $60,000 grant will pay for an apartment recycling project in which tenants receive a reusable bag for collecting their recyclables. The bag has an instruction sheet that reminds users what materials to recycle.

You can receive more information on Lewis County recycling programs online here.