A bunch of bad apples have spoiled a good thing for Excelsior Springs residents. The Drop Off Recycling Center has been forced to change their hours after illegal dumping has continued to contaminate the recycle dumpsters.
A press release went out to media earlier in the week announcing that effective immediately, “The decision was made to secure/place gates to control access to the Drop Off Recycling Center.”
A sign will be posted on the entry gate on Marietta Street that will read, “Due to illegal dumping and contamination of the recyclable materials this site will only be open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday until further notice.”
City of Excelsior Springs Public Works Director Chad Birdsong said the main reason for changing the hours of the recycling center back to Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., is because of the abundance of illegal dumping which leads to contamination of the recycle dumpsters.
“Once someone places trash in them, it continues to get buried by other material. The recycle centers won’t take the loads if they are contaminated. They will reject it all,” he explained.
The change of hours will only affect the regional drop off center where dumpsters are located at 1290 Marietta St. The dumpsters located there are specifically for glass, scrap metal, cardboard, food grade plastics, tin, aluminum and paper. According to Birdsong, the two cardboard dumpsters received the most contamination but all were affected at some point.
“There are signs posted everywhere at the location of what is acceptable material, but some people pay no attention and throw anything from lawn furniture, car bumper skirts, hoses, boards, freezers full of spoiled meat, furniture and more in with the recyclables,” Birdsong said.
Of the items Birdsong said were contaminating the recycle bins, most are considered bulky trash items. Those items can be disposed of on Saturdays at the city’s bulky item drop-off site located behind the Animal Control Center at 1298 South Marietta St., for a small fee.
Birdsong added that trash service, which residents pay for in their utility bill, is for normal household trash. Small items generated from a resident’s kitchen are what generally make up residential household trash, whereas the bulky item drop off is for large items collected by residents. Birdsong gave examples of bulky items such as carpet, couches, any furniture, scrap lumber, etc. “Residents can visit our city website and click on the refuse tab to get a full description of all the services we provide to dispose of items in Excelsior Springs,” he added.
“As with most good things, a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch,” said Birdsong. “Most people who use the site do it correctly.” The city has one Refuse Coordinator, Randy Leavitt, who Birdsong said does a great job of constantly cleaning out the debris that doesn’t belong and keeps the dumpsters emptied by delivering the material to recycle centers in Kansas City.
But while the recycle center wasn’t a manned site constantly throughout the day, Leavitt did keep an eye out on the center and helped to educate patrons on what could be dropped off at the site and where to dispose of items that are not considered recyclable.
Birdsong said most of the illegal dumping was occurring after hours, at night and during weekends.
In addition, Birdsong said that Allied Waste, the company contracted by the city to haul residential trash, has been in contact with the city and has also expressed concern about curbside recycle containers and how they have seen a huge increase of contamination of trash in them. “They will be sending out letters to help educate citizens of what should be placed in them. They will also be monitoring problem residents,” said Birdsong. “Citizens who continue to abuse the recycle service could see their recycle container removed in the future for abuse of the service.”