App lets residents see what can be recycled in their area

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A recycling program in Greensboro lets users know how good their recycling practices are. Based on which color tags your can receives, it may be taken away.

The city of Greensboro has been auditing recycling bins in the area since 2018 as part of its Recycle Right program. According to Greensboro Waste Reduction Supervisor Tori Carle Emerson, informing residents of recycle violations has reduced contamination by a third.

“What we find a lot of times is just confusion about what goes in which can. A lot of people don't realize that you don't want to have your recycling in a bag. We don't want plastic bags. We don't want any kind of wrap around drink bottles,” Emerson said.

The auditors from the city will evaluate the 12 dirtiest routes from their annual audit on collection days to see what items residents have considered as recycling.

“A lot of times people are just using their recycling can as a spare garbage can. And so we're trying to prevent that by denying service,” Emerson said.

Photos will be taken of the contents of the bin to show what violations are prevalent. Once the auditor has conducted an evaluation, a sticker will be placed on the can alerting residents of their quality of recycling.

“The thing with recycling is we have to have the right stuff. Otherwise it's going to cost the city and therefore the residents more money. So in our opinion, it is better for the recycling to end up in the garbage than for garbage to be in the recycling,” Emerson said.

Emerson said to recycle paper, cardboard, metal, food and drink cans, plastic bottles, tubs and jugs.

If a can gets a white sticker, the contents were mainly acceptable. A yellow sticker is a warning or means multiple items in the can were not recyclable. A pink sticker indicates the can will be skipped that day as most of the items are considered trash. Each route will be audited back to back on collection weeks, and three to four violations in six months will result in a halt to recycling service, although residents can get the can back through mediation.

“We've dropped it [contamination] by 30%, and we're really proud of that. We were at 36.2% contamination, and now we're at 25% contamination, which is still a lot. I mean, a quarter of all of the materials that are in the brown carts is garbage. Instead of recycling, it's not good, but it's a lot better than 36%. And we're really excited about that,” Emerson said.

The new app launched by the city, GSO Collects, allows residents to check which items are recyclable in their area.

“I understand why because, you know, like I said, emblems be on it. And this is plastic, but we do not accept these. And that's why we you need to go into the app to see because all plastic is not recyclable,” said David V. Smith, a residential inspector.

The app allows the auditors to take photos of the infractions that will then be made into a postcard and sent to residents.

“So our motto is we encourage, not discourage,” Smith said.

Smith says items that people mistakenly think are recyclable include polystyrene, glass, wood and juice jugs with plastic lining inside.

He encourages everyone to check what your city's restrictions are on recyclables in your area, as each town is different.