Government
BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN
Only 20% of multifamily households in Texas have access to recycling, according to The Recy- cling Partnership’s State of Recycling Report, but San Marcos is looking to change that. In collaboration with The Recycling Partner- ship, the city of San Marcos is looking to improve recycling e orts in the multifamily sector through a new pilot valet recycling program, which o cially launched March 4. The Recycling Partnership is a nonpro t organi- zation that partners with communities across the nation to improve recycling e orts. Diving in deeper The six-month pilot program is being funded through a $133,000 grant that comes from The Recycling Partnership, which is supported by the American Beverage Association, 3M and Target. Amy Thomaides, the city’s community enhancement initiatives manager, said she was seeing challenges with encouraging residents living in multifamily housing to participate in recycling. “They don’t even know they have recycling on-site,” Thomaides said. Trashbusters Disposal & Recycling will be in charge of picking up the bags of recyclables. They also check for “contamination,” which means there are items in the bag of recyclables that should not be there. If this is the case, the valet will leave a tag with an explanation. San Marcos launches valet recycling program
How the pilot program works
Residents of participating complexes can use the provided blue plastic bags to dispose of their recyclable materials through the valet program.
1 Collect your
2 Place bags
Re ll, repeat
3
recyclables in the blue bags provided
outside your door on collection
APT A
day by 8 a.m.
Residents who may need more blue bags can place a door hanger on their door or visit their leasing o ce.
17 participating apartment complexes • Redpoint San Marcos • Pointe San Marcos • Copper Beech at San Marcos • The Retreat
Did you know? The percentage of households that have access to recycling in Texas:
• Arba San Marcos • Vintage Pads Apartments • Topaz Apartments • Highcrest Apartments • Savannah Club Apartments • Village Green Apartments • Stone Brook Seniors • Mariposa at Hunter Road • The Reserve at San Marcos
• The Grove at San Marcos • Leah Avenue Townhomes • The Cottages at Hillside Ranch • The Village on Telluride
Single-family: 81%
Multi-family: 20%
SOURCES: CITY OF SAN MARCOS, THE RECYCLING PARTNERSHIP STATE OF RECYCLING REPORT COMMUNITY IMPACT
Community Program Manager Alita Kane emphasized The Recycling Partnership is focus- ing on driving the circular economy forward. “For recycling to work, it’s not just about having access and even having participation. That recycling material that goes into the cart needs to also be packaging that is highly recyclable, and once it gets into the cart it needs to be sorted in a way where we’re able to actually have a viable product at the end of that,” Kane said. Kane said San Marcos was “trailblazing” with the pilot program. What to expect The program will end Aug. 30. City sta and The Recycling Partnership will collect data and put together a report that will
"We’ve made leaps and strides in the single-family sector, but we know there’s so much work to be done [with recycling],
especially for access in the multifamily sector." ALITA KANE, THE RECYCLING PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITY PROGRAM MANAGER
analyze whether participation and contamina- tion increased or decreased along with resident feedback. Then they will write a sample request for proposal and go out to bid for a contract to make the program more permanent.
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