COMMONLY ASKED CURBSIDE RECYCLING QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
When will my recycling be picked up?
Recycling will be collected every other week on your regular collection day. Please place containers out by 7:00 am. New Year's, Thanksgiving, Christmas are the only days your cans will not be picked up. There are two routes A and B. To find out which route your address falls under please click here.
Why should I sign up for the program if Belmont already offers free curbside pick-up?
Belmont is no longer providing recycling services to residential customers. Belmont is focusing their resources on commercial customers. For Belmont, a commercial recycling program (businesses, agencies, etc.) means fewer recycling stops, larger volumes of material at each stop, and less gas expended.
Who is going to do all the work of sorting the materials?
Recyclable materials collected by the City curbside program (and the drop-off program) will be transferred to Western Recycling who will then bale the material and send it to MRF in Portland.
What is an MRF and where is the nearest one?
An MRF is a Material Recovery Facility. These specialized, state-of-the-art recycling facilities process and sort recyclable materials. The facility contracting with Western Recycling is located in Portland, Oregon.
Why aren't we sorting, removing caps and labels, and washing containers?
It is no longer needed when one co-mingles the recyclable waste. Plus, it makes the effort to recycle more convenient which will then hopefully increase participation and the recycling rate.
Why is glass not recycled?
There is currently no market to recycle glass in this area. We hope that in the future we may be able to find a buyer for our glass. Also, glass intermixed with other recyclables causes large problems with separation at the MRF’s.
Besides glass what items are prohibited and cannot be recycled? Items that cannot be recycled (updated 5/13/09)
- Plastic bags
- Paper towels
- Paper plates
- Medical waste
- Toys
- Clothing
- Carpets
- Tissue paper
- Wax coated beverage containers
- Cellophane paper, plastic or shrink wrap
- Foam rubber material
- Packaging materials
- Peanuts
- Bubble wrap
- Styrofoam packaging
- Styrofoam to-go boxes
- Ceramic containers
- Cereal box liners
- Containers that have contained
- Paint
- Pesticides
- Herbicides
- Petroleum products
- Strings & twines
- Strapping material
- Aerosol containers (any type)
- Paint cans and aerosol cans
- Audio CD's and DVD containers
- Salt pellet bags and coarse salt bags
- Packaging such as candy bar wrappers, etc.
- Paper cartons with a waxy coat
- Shredded paper
- VHS tapes
- Hypodermic needles or needles of any kind
Is the City going to generate a profit from this?
NO! The City hopes to eventually run a revenue-neutral program. However, it often takes years for recycling programs to operate completely in the black. If the program were to become a non-optional part of the standard garbage service (at some point in the future) our chances of operating in the black would greatly increase – since success requires large volumes of recycled commodities.
Will the City still provide a drop-off program?
Yes. However, the current drop-off program will be scaled back to encourage participation in the curbside program. There are 3 full service drop-off locations at City Hall at 911 N. 7th, Ridley at 911 N. Main and NE corner of ISU Holt arena. Sister City Park on Pocatello Creek and K-Mart on Poleline will have only newspaper and cardboard boxes. For additional drop-off information click here.
What other cities in Idaho offer curbside recycling?
Boise, Nampa, Middleton, Moscow, Meridian, Mountain Home, Garden City, Lewiston, Sandpoint, Kootenai, Hailey, and Ketchum all have well-established and successful curbside recycling programs.
With all the land around us, why do we need to recycle? We could keep building landfills forever.
Idaho’s abundance of land can be seen as both a blessing and a curse…when it comes to being stewards of the environment. For example, the State of Idaho is one of few states that has no landfill diversion goals. Yet, the Department of Environmental Quality states, “As existing landfills fill up, it will be necessary to build new landfills, which are very expensive to construct. Higher disposal fees will be needed to cover the cost of building new landfills, which may tip the economic incentive to recycling and pollution prevention.” Not only are we filling our landfills faster than necessary, but we’re spending money to bury valuable materials!
Why should I recycle?
Recycling…
• saves natural resources – The national recycling rate of 30% saves the equivalent of more than 5 million gallons of gasoline, reducing dependence on foreign oil by 114 million barrels.
• saves energy – Paper recycling saves up to 70% of the energy needed to create paper from new timber. Aluminum recycling saves up to 95% of the energy required to make new aluminum from raw ore (equivalent to filling the can 2/3 full of gasoline).
• saves clean air and water – Recycled paper uses 80% less water and produces 95% less air pollution than virgin paper production.
• saves landfill space – Landfills last longer when recyclables are being diverted.
• saves money and creates jobs – Recycling creates far more jobs than do landfills or incinerators.
If I have more questions about recycling who should I contact?
If you have additional questions about the CIty's recycling program please contact the City Recycling Coordinator Debbie Brady at 208-234-6192.
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