ST. GEORGE — Santa Clara and Ivins cities have finalized details for city residents participating in the countywide curbside recycling program.
The addition of Santa Clara and Ivins brings the number of municipalities that have officially signed on to the BluCan curbside recycling program to nine. Other cities include Washington, St. George, LaVerkin, Toquerville, Leeds, Hurricane and Springdale.
Hurricane, Springdale and Ivins have made the program mandatory, while the other cities have offered an opt-out option for citizens.
The recycling program must enroll 50 percent of the residents in participating entities within the county or the program will not go forward. If it goes forward, actual curbside service is expected to begin some time after Jan. 1, 2016.
The BluCan.org website offers details about the program, officially called the BluCan curbside recycling program, from the Washington County Solid Waste District.
Santa Clara
Santa Clara picked the opt-out option and modeled its program after St. George City’s ordinance. The final ordinance was announced in Santa Clara’s September city newsletter.
“We’re kind of excited to get something like this going,” Santa Clara City Manager Ed Dickie said.
Residents can opt out of the program through Oct. 31 by sending an email to the city offices.
“If you opt out, you can stay out as long as you live in that home,” Dickie said. “Once you move, you’ll be in (the program).”
After Oct. 31, anyone moving into or within Santa Clara will be automatically enrolled and cannot opt out of the program. In the long run, the program morphs into a mandatory program, Dickie said.
The cost is estimated to be $4 per month per residence, which could go down to $3.12 per month when county participation rates hit 70 percent, Dickie said.
Dickie said he has heard the program is much less expensive than in other areas of the United States.
“People are just telling us that it’s quite a bit cheaper; they’re paying $20, $30, $40 a month … where they came from,” Dickie said, “and most of those places were in California.”
So far, about 20 Santa Clara residences out of about 2,200 total households in the city have opted out of the program, Dickie said.
Recycling binnies will still be located in Santa Clara for those who prefer to use them and for residents to deposit glass recyclables. Glass is not accepted in the BluCan program.
Ivins
Ivins City is going with a mandatory recycling program, with an option for residents to apply for exclusion from the program due to financial hardship, Mayor Chris Hart said.
“The reason why we went mandatory was that there’s an attendant cost to the opt-out system: the cities have to track who’s in and who’s out,” Hart said.
That would translate into an additional fee beyond the actual recycling fee that goes to the solid waste district, Hart said.
“We just felt like that was a foolish thing,” he said. “It would add to the cost to all of those who are participating, which we anticipated would be a very high percentage in our city.”
Ivins will use the Five County Association of Governments income threshold to determine eligibility for the hardship exemption. Residents who want to apply for the hardship exclusion can contact the Ivins City Offices.
Resources
- For more information, see BluCan.org, an informational website about the recycling program from the Washington County Solid Waste District
Related posts
- Washington City passes curbside recycling; primary election canvas results
- St. George signs onto BluCan curbside recycling program
- LaVerkin jumps on curbside recycling wagon
- City may pass curbside recycling ordinance; how it would work
- Hurricane chooses mandatory curbside recycling despite citizen opposition
- Curbside recycling plan goes to cities, service could begin January
- On the EDge: Recycling should be mandatory
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I’m sorry but the word “mandatory” just doesn’t sit well with me. Ask me nice to stop hucking my beer cans over the fence and I will think about. Tell me I have to stop and guess what, I’m still hucking.
Really, Billy? How do you feel about being told it’s mandatory to drive on the right hand side of the road?
It’s also mandatory to stop on a red light. it’s also mandatory to pay property taxes. it’s mandatory to have insurance on your car. it’s also mandatory to stop at all stop signs unless you are not comfortable with the word mandatory then you don’t have to follow any of the laws LOL.!
I’m all for recycling but I don’t understand why it costs us to do it. Somebody is making a fortune with the recyclables we contribute. I’m not worried about $4 a month, I’m just pointing out someone is profiting big time on the other end.