Fed up with my town's recycling program after 3 years of trying

I moved to Springfield in 2021 and thought I was doing good by separating all my plastics and paper. Last month I found out the local recycling plant closed down back in 2019 and everything just goes to the landfill anyway. I called the city office to ask about it and the lady told me "we're looking into options" which is exactly what they said two years ago. Meanwhile I've been rinsing out yogurt cups and flattening cardboard boxes for nothing. Has anyone else's town quietly stopped actually recycling?

2 comments

2 Comments

terryrobinson17d ago

Wow that's ridiculous, they knew it was closed for years before you even moved there lol. Did they ever tell you why they kept sending out recycling bins instead of just being honest about the landfill situation?

the_drew17d ago

we're looking into options" - yeah that's the classic stall tactic. I dealt with the exact same thing in my town. What worked for me was finding out who actually controls the waste contract and showing up to a city council meeting. That's where the real decision makers are, not the phone line lady. While you wait for them to get their act together, you might want to start a small compost pile or see if any local grocery stores take plastic bags back separately. Some places will still take certain plastics if you drive them to a drop-off center in the next county over, even if your town won't.