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Ashland-area residents are getting a chance to go green today as the Platte Valley Sanitation company starts its curbside recycling service.
Chad Johnson and his wife, Kim, bought the garbage hauling business in October. He said a curbside recycling service has never been tried before in the Ashland area.
“The more trash we saw going into the landfill, the more we realized the importance of starting to divert some of it,” he said. “We noticed a lot more recyclable materials than trash just being thrown away.”
Platte Valley Sanitation serves about a 15-mile area in and around Ashland. The area includes the towns of South Bend, Memphis and several lake communities.
Ashland City Administrator Jessica Preister applauded the idea.
“Whether people will take advantage of it, I don't know,” Preister said. “But it is a good step.”
For $6.99 a month, customers get a 65-gallon garbage can on wheels in which they can deposit plastic, glass, aluminum, tin, cardboard and paper. Items such as soiled paper and napkins are not recyclable.
The recyclable material is collected each Thursday.
About 20 people signed up for the recycling program without much prompting. Since then fliers have gone out to every residence in the company's service area.
Chad Johnson said about 200 to 250 of his 550 customers will need to opt for recycling to keep the program going. The company is giving the program about a year to get off the ground.
“We have tried to make this as easy and inexpensive as possible,” Johnson said. “I think a lot of the people in the community are excited and ready for something like this.”
Contact the writer:
444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com
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