By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — For some Burqueños, trash day will soon mean one less bin to take to the curb each week. The city is starting a pilot program that will switch blue recycling bin pickup from weekly to every other week.
Starting today, the city’s Solid Waste Management Department will test the new schedule with 6,595 households across Albuquerque, according to a press release. The city will review the pilot every three months, tracking recycling volume, contamination, collection operations and resident feedback to determine whether it should keep, change or expand the program. According to the city, the pilot is based on data showing residents put out their recycling bins only 60% to 75% of the time and only about 20% of bins are full when collected. By making fewer collection trips, the city expects to use less fuel, reduce emissions and put less wear on its trucks, which travel about 250 miles a day and can weigh more than 62,000 pounds when fully loaded. The city also estimates fewer recycling collection trips could keep about 112 tires out of the landfill each year. If the city eventually adopts the every-other-week schedule citywide, it estimates the change could save more than 500,000 gallons of fuel and cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 12 million pounds each year.
Solid Waste Management Department Director Billy Gallegos said the city’s work goes beyond collecting recycling, addressing the process “from how we collect materials to the way they’re sorted and ultimately recovered.” That work includes expanding recycling at city facilities, developing composting programs and researching new technology to streamline sorting and processing. The city also recently approved an ordinance expanding recycling access to apartment residents and requiring city-owned and city-operated buildings to provide recycling services.
Residents in the pilot areas have been notified of their new collection schedules. The city has posted maps and address lists showing which homes are part of the pilot and when their recycling will be collected. Residents can also search their address to find their specific schedule. The city is encouraging participants to use its Every-Other-Week program to make the most of their blue bins. Residents who have more recycling than their bins can hold can use one of the city’s nine recycling drop-off sites.