FAIRHOPE – The city of Fairhope resumed curbside recycling collection Monday, April 20, but residents still cannot drop off material at the municipal landfill as part of efforts to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
In Daphne, recycling schedules have been changed to coincide with garbage collection days and the city stopped collecting recyclables from small bins that require pickup by hand. All material collected in Daphne is being taken to the county Magnolia Landfill, officials said.
Fairhope had stopped recycling collections as part of an effort to reduce employee exposure to COVID-19, Mayor Karin Wilson said. She said schedules have been worked out to allow employees to safely collect recyclables at the curbside using automated trucks so that workers are not exposed as much to the materials left by residents.
“We wanted to be sure we got ahead of this,” Wilson said.
Residents should put out recyclables on the same schedule as they did before service was stopped. Some pickups may run behind schedule until employees can catch up with all the materials to be collected, according to a city statement.
In Daphne, the City Council voted April 6 to temporarily change recycling services during the outbreak. Recyclables placed in large containers that can be collected using automated trucks will be picked up. About 350 to 400 households still have small recycling containers that have to be collected by hand. Those containers will no longer be collected.
Jeremy Sasser, Daphne public works director, said handling the material creates more of a risk of exposure for employees.
“Right now, we still collect our recycling with a rear-load truck, which does require a hopper to be on the back of the truck at all times and handle every small bin or can that they have to unload,” Sasser said. “On an average day, they touch 700 to 1,000 cans just depending on the day.”
In November, the Daphne recycling center was destroyed in a fire. Since then, the city has continued to collect recyclable materials, but all items picked up are taken to the Magnolia Landfill with the city garbage.
Sasser said garbage and recycling materials should be placed at the curb on the same day that garbage is scheduled to be picked up.
Mayor Dane Haygood said the changes are similar to those being enacted in other cities to reduce workers’ exposure to COVID-19.
“We are not recycling at this time. I am hesitant for us to take action to suspend our recycling program but the reality is we’re not recycling right now,” Haygood said. “We can’t in this current environment. There is added risks and added costs with these routes that are there.”
City officials said that with more residents staying at home due to schools and businesses being closed and Gov. Kay Ivey issuing a directive that people not go out if a trip is not necessary, more residential garbage is being generated and collected. Since garbage and recyclables are both being taken to the landfill, residents who have too much garbage for their standard containers can put the extra in the recyclable container.