This week, Lafayette City-Parish Councilwoman Liz Webb Hebert made an announcement on her Facebook page that made me look like these GIFs:
Effective immediately, Lafayette's recycling provider, Republic Services, is now accepting plastics 1-7!
In May 2016, Republic Services took over Lafayette's recycling program, and with the switch came new rules on what would be accepted in the recycling bins. The most noticeable change was that glass was no longer accepted, but the other change was that only plastics 1 and 2 would be accepted.
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| Photo via Liz Webb Hebert's Facebook page |
It was definitely frustrating, as plastic #5 is fairly common, and has had to be thrown away (or taken to Target, but I'm not sure many people are diligent about doing that regularly!)
But now, this will allow for much more plastic to get into the recycling stream instead of being sent to the landfill.
I spoke with Councilwoman Hebert on this change in the program, and she explained how Republic Services had planned to accept other types of plastic recyclables once they had the ability and facilities in place to process them.
The materials recovery facility (MRF) they were previously using could not accommodate plastics outside of #s 1 and 2. Recently, Republic Services acquired ReCommunity, a nationwide recycling processing company, and with that, they are now able to recycle all plastics.
Liz says she was personally dedicated to seeing this happen for the residents of Lafayette. She shared how District 8, which she oversees, has the highest rate of recycling in the city, and she wanted to see more items accepted in the recycling bins.
She did add that glass is still not accepted in Lafayette's curbside program, due to the lack of a market for recyclable glass material. "It's not about the money or economics. There's just nowhere for us to send it, even in neighboring states like Texas or Arkansas," she said.
Liz is working on alternatives and potential solutions for glass with Republic Services and Lafayette Consolidated Government.
These items are still not accepted through the recycling program
- Garbage (food and liquid waste, including containers with food residue, such as pizza boxes)
- Yard waste
- Big items such as wood, plastic totes, metal, etc.
- Glass
- Styrofoam (while it may be labeled a #6 plastic, it still cannot be recycled curbside)
- Hoses, wires, chains, etc.
- Textiles (clothing/towels/linen)
- Plastic bags and film
- Bulky plastics such as plastic furniture, kids toys and plastic buckets
Thanks to Republic Services and Councilwoman Hebert for making this positive change for Lafayette residents!
Lafayette Consolidated Government Recycling page
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