Recently, Covington Councilmen Mark Verret and Patrick McMath joined Mayor Mark Johnson, Councilman Clay Madden of Mandeville and environmental enthusiast Ross Richardson on a “field trip” to the facility in Sumrall, MS that hand-sorts our recyclables from our garbage (Yes, hand sorts). Some very good news: Since our Recycle Awareness Push and Thursdays Only collection, Covington’s contamination rate has dropped from 50% to an industry norm of 30%.
The big question: Why can other parts of the country / world recycle X, Y or Z and we can’t? It’s a function of population density. Single stream recycling works with concentrated populations.
Why are plastic bags so bad? To recycle paper-cardboard, it must first be pulverized by a machine. Plastic bags will not / do not pulverize, thus rendering the paper-cardboard useless. Also, any food is bad. Flies are bad. Rats are bad. Any food in your recyclables is bad. Our next step: Reduce plastic bags and food contamination in our recyclables. Not there yet, but we’re doing better. Much better!
CW: Thank you Mayor Johnson and Covington City Officials for your proactive efforts in addressing city garbage concerns.
