Recycling crisis has our trash vendor hitting us with "contamination charges" in the hundreds per month per recycle dumpster.

Recycling crisis has our trash vendor hitting us with "contamination charges" in the hundreds per month per recycle dumpster. Are you getting rid of your recycle dumpsters??

Per the City of Dallas I have to train my residents how to recycle because starting January 1st 2020 we are mandated to have recycling year round. I have a 804 unit property and struggle with this a lot.

Depending on how your lease is written, you can bill your residents back for those charges through an allocation method.

we do, IF we can prove which resident did it.

no, I’m saying allocate all trash charges to all residents.

I wish we could eliminate them but our township requires recycling. We recently opted for a valet company to pick up door to door so we are hoping that reduces contamination fees.

Our recycling receptacles are located away from the dumpsters, so we have not had any issues since doing that. We tell the resident during lease signing that dumpsters are blue and recycling bins are green.

While we are required to have recycling, what kind is not specified. Our vendor is switching ours over to a bin that only has a small slot, not big enough for bags- so that it is cardboard and paper only. Problem solved.

Katie I’ve done that. It doesn’t solve the problem. Residents will always find a way. Cardboard can easily be contaminated.

Depending where your located recycling could be mandated. It’s becoming mandatory in more and more places.

In San Antonio it’s a requirement, however we’ve got our larger access points locked, basically only allows broken down boxes to be slid into the container - which has curbed our contamination fees.

Our recycling bins are locked and may only be accessed by the trash valet service team or our staff.

Wish I could but like others, it is required here in Seattle. They will also look in your trash and if it contains too much food and yard waste, or recycling . They fine you for that also. It is frustrating as heck.

Because recycling is such an inconvenience ????????

We got rid of recycling at my property because we too were charged for contaminated recycling every..single..week. Some residents didn’t respect it, which sucks, so it ruined it for everyone who wanted to recycle

We found more issues with our properties with mixed use retail. We worked with our solid waste company to obtain locking containers; one per retailer. A resident education initiative on what we are allowed to recycle (based on Solid Waste guidelines for the respective area) helped immensely. "Contamination" is a broad term, we had issues with unwashed recyclables at one community and non-recyclable glass at another. A friendly guide on the do's and don'ts can help.

Yes, in our area they commingle the trash...Chinas not buying the trash like they used too

Start going through their garbage and see how they feel about it. No one likes another spreading dirty laundry.

We were having the same issue with Waste Management with contamination fees that were 5 to 10 times higher than the actual recycle fee. We got rid of the recycle container for the last several months completely. We are switching to valet trash which will include recycling to hopefully be a better choice for the residents.