COMMERCE – In response to Commerce Cares Recycling volunteers deciding to discontinue their help with the city of Commerce’s recycling efforts, both city and Texas A&M University-Commerce leaders met Monday to begin talking about how to continue to serve Commerce-area residents’ recycling needs.
“We want to make sure that people understand that recycling will continue,” Texas A&M University-Commerce Director of Campus Operations and Safety Derek Preas told the Herald-Banner. The people of Commerce deserve to have recycling.
“We also have no ill will toward volunteers with Commerce Cares or to the Commerce Beautification Commission, because they have all been a tremendous help to the community in supporting their desire to do what’s right and recycle,” Preas added.
This past weekend, volunteers with Commerce Cares announced through social media that, after months of struggling to clean up after those who were failing to follow recycling guidelines, that they — after more than eight years of helping with local recycling efforts — had decided to “call it quits.”
According to both Preas and Commerce City Manager Ned Muse, they were blindsided by the announcement and plan to develop a new plan for recycling moving forward.
“We were not aware of any illegal dumping or people dropping off non-recyclable trash, but I guess volunteers with Commerce Cares became fed up with it,” Muse told the Herald-Banner. “We’re still continuing recycling services, though, and the containers will continue to be to be emptied as we get our plan together for going forward in the coming weeks.”
Once an updated plan for recycling in Commerce is devised in the coming weeks, it will be brought before the Commerce City Council and A&M-Commerce executive leadership.
The collection site for recycling in Commerce is located on the A&M-Commerce campus, in Lot 16 on the corner of Campbell and Walnut St.