SMYRNA, Del.- Community members are noticing some of their recycling left behind on pick up days, and it's because Delaware's Solid Waste Authority is piloting a new program in town.
Workers from a company known as the Recycling Partnership have been going through community members' recycling bins before collection time to see if the bins are 'contaminated' with non-recyclables, or wrongly placed recyclables.
Business Director with DSWA, Mike Parkowski, said the Solid Waste Authority is covering the cost of the cart-tagging.
The Town of Smyrna was selected to test the program following a DSWA audit that identified elevated recycling contamination rates in the town. Parkowski also noted that high contamination rates are present in all three Delaware counties.
The orange tags, labeled 'Oops!,' serve to highlight problems and potential solutions, but some said it's only been an inconvenience.
"It kind of rubs me the wrong way because I've seen times where they make a big deal between the trash and the recycle and then the same truck picks them both up and puts it all in one," said Smyrna resident Greg Parsell.
Several communities members have been questioning the new program on Facebook. One person saying, "I guess I’ll just stop recycling and throw it all in the trash can," after receiving a tag.
Others, like Linda Von Essen, said they don't mind some constructive criticism.
"Don't just automatically think this is all about you," Von Essen urged. "This is about recycling and the way it's going into the environment."
DSWA acknowledged how the task of sorting can be tedious. Parkowski said if you're not up for it, there is no point in recycling anyway.
"If you are not doing it correctly, you are not helping the process," he assured. "It makes other people's recycling not recyclable if you contaminate it by putting your trash in there...especially if you put things like food or yard waste."
The pilot program is six weeks long, it ends in mid-October. If the results are as intended, Parkowski said cart-tagging could be brought to other Delaware communities in the future.