Baltimore County is promoting recycling and reducing contamination within the recycling stream as part of a new pilot program with several apartment communities.
The county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) installed large decals with educational information on recycling dumpsters at each of the communities participating in the pilot program. The department also distributed reusable recycling tote bags to those communities’ residents.
So far, the pilot program has been instituted at four communities, including more than 3,100 apartment units. The program will eventually expand to 10 communities totaling more than 10,000 units.
The pilot program initially launched with 410 units in the Twin Ridge Apartment complex in Pikesville. It was then expanded to 805 units at Carriage Hill Apartments in Randallstown, 889 units at Gwynn Oaks Apartments in Windsor Mill, and 1,050 units at Morningside Apartments in Owings Mills.
“This is another way to reach out to the residents of Baltimore County and helping to better educate them about recycling,” said Nicholas Rodricks, DPWT’s Chief of the Bureau of Solid Waste, in a statement. “This pilot program helps us overcome some of the operational hurdles of recycling in multi-family housing communities. Not everyone has the ability to simply place their recyclables in a bin and wheel it out to the curb. This program allows us to meet people where they are and improve recycling in Baltimore County.”
Recently, Baltimore County came under fire after residents were mailed the county’s annual trash and recycling guide without the calendar that traditionally showed pickup schedules. Instead, the mailer included a QR code, which the county said was meant to be a cost-saver and a sustainability measure.
A county study last year revealed multi-family housing community residents were less satisfied with trash and recycling services than residents living in single-family homes. Multi-family housing community residents also felt they had a lack of space to store their recyclables and that they had limited access to drop off their recyclables compared to single-family home residents.
Previously, the county has expanded recycling of other items, including textiles and electronics.
Funded by the county’s Bureau of Solid Waste, the pilot program aims to increase awareness for recycling services and educate residents about how to properly recycle certain items.
Recyclable items include papers and cardboard; metal, such as canned vegetables and empty aerosol cans; all colors of glass bottles and jars; plastic bottles and jars; and rigid plastics, with metal handles removed.
The following items should not be included in regular recycling: plastic bags, wrap, or film; food; foam or plastic utensils; plastic “clamshell” containers (such as take-out containers from restaurants); cords, wires, chains, and other items that can be tangled; and batteries.
“We’ve always had recycling, but it was always in the background,” said Kristen Centeno, assistant property manager at Twin Ridge Apartments, in a statement. “When Baltimore County approached us about this program and we announced it to our community, there was a renewed and increased interest in recycling. We’ve had such a great response that we are adding on an additional day of recycling pick-ups.”
In addition to reducing recycling contamination, another goal of the pilot program is to decrease the amount of trash that winds up at the Eastern Sanitary Landfill in White Marsh, Baltimore County’s only active landfill.
The Bureau of Solid Waste handles almost 1 million tons of trash or recyclables annually from Baltimore County and Harford County. Collection of residential materials spans about 243,000 single-family homes and 82,000 multi-family units.
Baltimore County also processes more than 75,000 tons of recyclable material through the Central Acceptance Facility in Cockeysville.
Find more information about residential recycling collection on Baltimore County’s website.
