LA PORTE CITY – The city is reminding residents near and far to plan ahead when dropping off recyclables.

The La Porte City Public Works Department on Tuesday morning was confronted with an overabundance of cardboard at the city recycling site behind the Public Works building off of U.S. Highway 218 near Schull Avenue.

“It was just a little frustrating because we have snow coming. By now, it would have been covered in snow if Public Works hadn’t picked that up,” said La Porte City Clerk Jane Whittlesey.

Crews arrived at the site to prepare for the Tuesday afternoon snowfall when they saw cardboard boxes of all sizes overflowing from the recycling Dumpsters. Some were broken down, but many were not.

“If cardboard and paper get wet, you can’t recycle it anyway, and then it just goes to the landfill,” Whittlesey said.

Two of the Dumpsters are labeled for cardboard. A third is for mixed media and another is for aluminum and cardboard.

Whittlesey said the overload is not uncommon during the holidays at many recycling centers in Northeast Iowa.

“The cardboard and paper issue is always really tough at Christmas because everyone has cardboard and boxes to get rid of,” she said.

A Facebook post Tuesday morning from the city department reminded residents that “dumping of any garbage or refuse on the ground is illegal and violators may be fined.”

The recycling center is free of charge as a convenience, but only so long as it is used in the matter it was intended.

La Porte City councilman Brent Sadler also commented on the matter. 

"It was a shame to see the recycling center look the way it did. A lot of time, work and money goes into making our community nice and this was a slap in the face. It is important that we all do our part in making La Porte City inviting to others," he said. 

The city is requesting area residents break down all cardboard, and if the bin is full, keep the cardboard at home until it is emptied.

The bins are emptied every Wednesday.

Every household in the city of just over 2,000 residents is issued a recycling tote for curbside pickup service every other week. The city contracts the services through Black Hawk Waste Disposal.