ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Councilor Pena is hoping to increase the amount of garbage recycled in the city with a new resolution. According to studies, only about 23 percent of the garbage in Albuquerque is recycled.
Right now the city contracts with a private recycling facility to sort and process everything that’s collected. However, they are not able to process some items like plastic bags, which Pena says is a big source of litter.
The councilor says a ban on plastic bags is not the answer and says the city should expand its recycling program, so she introduced a resolution that does just that. It calls on the city to look into building its own recycling facility.
“This resolution is really just to bolster the recycling within the city of Albuquerque and come up with better means of doing that, and really making sure the public is aware of where we’re at in terms of recycling,” Pena said.
No word on how much this would all cost. The resolution calls on first creating a task force to get the ball rolling. It also sets benchmarks including drastically increasing the amount of garbage that is recycled by 2025.