Misuse of recycling bins meant as a drop-off point for rural residents has resulted in the ending of the service by the Warren County Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors took the action during a meeting on May 5. All three supervisors agreed to end the program.
Warren County has kept five bins in a county parking lot on North Buxton Street in Indianola for rural residents to drop off recyclable waste. The service was not paid for by the county government. South Central Iowa Landfill covered the costs and the recycling was done by Waste Management.
"We've had continuing problems of contamination of those recycling bins as well as just dumping," Board of Supervisors assistant Megan Andrews reported during the meeting. "Right now there is a mattress and box spring over there that is not recyclable. So it falls to the county then to clean up the messes that happen over there."
Andrews said when people put inappropriate items in the bins, the entire contents can no longer be recycled. "They're unable to recycle any of it and it's just going to the landfill," Andrews said. "It's very costly for South Central. They would like to terminate the service, discontinue the service unless the county takes action to police it in some way."
Supervisor Crystal McIntyre said this is not the first time misuse has led to the rural recycling site being shut down. "I'm going by past history," McIntyre said. "I know that when we had it out by Liberty Center the same thing happened."
McIntyre said trying to police the drop-off site would be a waste of time for county employees and a private company like T.R.M. Waste Disposal of Indianola may be able to provide a better option.
"I'm just of the mind to let a private business take this on," McIntyre said. "If they have the bins and they monitor their bins, its much more productive for them."
Board of Supervisors chair Aaron DeKock said he agreed the rural recycling bins were not worth the effort if they continually get contaminated by improper use.
"If ultimately it all ends up in the landfill anyway it's defeating the purpose of what we're trying to do," DeKock said.
