St. Louis will pause home recycling to save resources in the aftermath of the May 16 tornado.
Until June 30, the city recycling service said it will be throwing away recycling and green waste with trash. This change will help the city concentrate on storm cleanup.
St. Louisans can instead drop off their recyclable items at more than two dozen residential sites around the city.
In May, soon after being appointed by Mayor Cara Spencer, interim Director of Streets Jim Suelmann called for an end to alley recycling.
“I’m working on a program in refuse that will save the city about a million dollars a year, and I promise if this gets implemented you will see no trash in alleys. None,” Suelmann said at a city Budget and Public Employees Committee meeting.
Already, about 60% of what the city collects from the recycling bins has to go to landfills because it is contaminated, Suelmann said. That costs the city a lot of money because recycling is more expensive per pound than taking trash to landfills.
Suelmann said making this change would free up more than 20 drivers who could focus on making sure dumpsters are empty “all the time.”
“All the time, guaranteed,” Suelmann said. “Or I’ll quit my job.”
During COVID, Suelmann said a similar temporary change led to virtually all collected recycling actually being recyclable.
The city had paused alley recyling in July 2021 and resumed residential pickup in May 2022.
