SEATTLE (Recycling Monster): The recycling contamination rates in El Paso has dropped significantly under new operator, says city officials. This has resulted in notable savings in local landfill space, they added.

The city’s recycling program has not been a huge success. It had to stop its recycling services for a period of three months in late-2020, following shortage of staff. Although it resumed recycling pickup in early-2021, the contamination rate stood high at around 34%, thus making it useless. However, so far this year, contamination rate has dropped drastically to 24%. It must be noted that El Paso city officials had set a goal to reduce recycling contamination to 23% by end-2023.

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The notable dip in contamination rate is the result of the city’s outreach program that educated El Paso residents on what is recyclable and what is not, said Nicholas Ybarra, assistant director of the city’s environmental services department.

Ybarra urged residents to not throw lithium batteries and e-cigarettes in their recycling bin. The other non-recyclable items include styrofoam and plastic bags, grocery bags, yard waste and food and liquids among others.

It must be noted that BARCO had taken over the city’s recycling program from Friedman Recycling in early 2022.