JOPLIN, MISSOURI -
Joplin City Council votes to formally adopt an agreement bringing curbside recycling to a large portion of residents this year. About 300 have already signed up for the service.
Now it's Joplin Recycling Coordinator, Mary Anne Phillips job to educate residents in the more than 16,000 eligible single family homes and duplexes how it works.
"The national average, I think, is only about 25 percent of people who are eligible for curbside who actually participate," Phillips said. "So we're hoping for at least that many."
Joplin's curbside recycling will cover paper, aluminum, and plastic. Unlike at the Recycling Center, none of it needs to be sorted.
"Periodically go out and just dump it all together," Phillips said.
In these containers the recycling service will provide. People are asked to lightly rinse any dirty recyclables, fold boxes, but leave large containers as-is.
"It's better not to crush them," Phillips said. "Because it goes through the system easier."
People wanting to recycle glass, electronics, and certain types of plastics will still need to take trips to the recycling center.
If you're wondering what kind of plastic is acceptable; somewhere on the item should be a recycling symbol with a number 1-7. As long as that number's not a 6, it's generally acceptable for curbside.
"We're going for all the people who haven't been to the Joplin Recycling Center for whatever reason," Phillips said. "So we're hoping to just get a whole new demographic, a whole new set of people who haven't recycled at all."
To sign up for recycling service, you must call 800-627-1717 or 800-431-1507 or submit request online, HERE.
Containers will be delivered the final 2 weeks of May. If you sign up by May 15th, the service begins June 1st.
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