Blytheville Mayor Barrett Harrison said Tuesday he would like to see the city pick up recyclables on the curb, when city-wide recycling becomes mandatory.
On June 16, the Blytheville City Council only read an ordinance once that would create a city-wide recycling program.
It must be read two more times before being voted on, meaning it could be the August meeting before the Council decides on the details of the recycling program.
Today was the original date for recycling to become mandatory, after the city's governing body passed a resolution last October agreeing to implement a city-wide recycling program, beginning Jan. 1 on a voluntary basis and becoming mandatory on July 1.
Health and Sanitation Committee chairman Shirley Connealy introduced the proposed recycling ordinance earlier this month.
"What they're going to do is, at the July meeting, they'll work on that some more and then at the August meeting they'll vote to pass whatever it is we're going to do," Harrison said. "The problem with it all is knowing exactly what our recycler -- in this case Nuway Recycling -- can and wants to take. As their ability to accept the recyclables changes, we'll have to adjust what we're doing. Shirley Connealy's committee will be bringing the ordinance to the City Council again at the July meeting. By then they will have had conversations with Nuway and others about exactly what (to recycle). My guess is they'll start this thing on a voluntary basis until they get all the kinks worked out of it, and then at some point in time it will go to mandatory recycling. There is still a lot of work that has to be done out of that committee and then of course by the full Council."
The mayor noted while the program is in the voluntary stage, citizens will likely take the recyclables to drop-off points.
"I know Nuway intends to have more at some point, other than just at their location on South Division," Harrison said. "Once it becomes mandatory, then the city should pick it up from the curb, in my opinion. It would be difficult to require everyone in the city to take it to a drop-off point somewhere. So I hope as they write that ordinance, they'll figure out a way to pick it up from the curb and provide the bag for the recyclables to go in. Then, instead of taking it to the transfer station to be taken to the landfill, those items would just be dropped off at Nuway Recycling."
Connealy said while some have already begun recycling, she has heard some resistance.
"I have some people tell me, 'I am not going to be forced into doing anything,"' Connealy said.
Connealy said she has speaking engagements planned to educate the public on recycling, even planning to do a Public Service Announcement on the local radio stations.
She said there are a number of benefits to recycling.
"It saves natural resources; we're not poisoning the land," she said. "It would save space to the landfill. It cleans up the area."
The city would also save money on trips to the landfill, recycling proponents have said.
Connealy noted statistics show that it takes paper two to five months to disintegrate; plastic bags 10-20 years; and Styrofoam never disintegrates.
Connealy added a fair in Perry County, Mo., collected 42.5 tons of recyclables in one event.
Those items included everything from plastics to electronics (83,000 pounds of electronic appliances), she said.
The next City Council meeting will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 28, at the Municipal Courtroom, changed from its regular date of the third Tuesday of the month.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com