As hundreds of cyclists poured through the Summit City, there was hope that the event would not only bring some exercise and entertainment to the participants but hopefully a changed view of the community in general.FORT WAYNE – Fort Wayne will have to buy more recycling carts than expected thanks to the program’s overwhelming popularity.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved increasing its purchase order for recycling carts from $40,000 to $152,000 to buy 2,138 new recycling carts. It also approved spending an additional $50,000 to assemble, deliver and repair the carts.
Since beginning the program in January, the city has delivered 54,774 recycling carts, in 48- and 96-gallon sizes, to city residents. About 70 percent were 96-gallon carts. This means about 70 percent of eligible households have signed up for the new carts, according to the city.
Matt Gratz, solid waste director, said the number of people recycling has increased, as has the total amount of materials being recycled. City residents recycled 10,027 tons of material through October, compared with 8,837 tons for all of 2010.
“The demand is just awesome,” he said.
Frank Suarez, city spokesman, said the city will promote the carts heavily over the next two months in an effort to tell residents it’s not too late to request a cart.
Residents are charged for the recycling program regardless of whether they participate. While the city hasn’t yet run out of carts, it needed to buy more to ensure it had enough for every resident who wanted one.
The increased participation also serves as a financial boon to the city. The new contract gives the city half of the profits from the recycled materials its residents dispose. This has earned the city $350,000 through September and is expected to generate $150,000 for the rest of the year.
Because of that new revenue and lower costs under the program, the city has cut monthly garbage rates by $1.29 since last fall.
The city’s promotional campaign is likely to include billboards, TV commercials and mailers, Gratz said, although he appreciated the suggestion by Councilman Tim Pape, D-5th, to advertise on Citilink buses.
Gratz said he is hopeful to get the word out about the carts during the holidays so residents can keep as much of that excess holiday trash out of the landfill as possible.
“If we can get these carts out to residents right now, we can capture a lot of that recycling during Christmas,” he said.
