Cuyahoga County Recycling Still Disposed Of Properly, Group Says

CLEVELAND — In light of the controversy surrounding Cleveland's recycling program, the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District sent a message to residents saying their recycling is still being properly handled.

This week, Mayor Frank Jackson revealed that all of Cleveland's recycling is actually being sent to a landfill, Cleveland Scene reported. The mayor said the recycling program became prohibitively expensive to maintain.

A representative for the county's solid waste district said that situation applies only to Cleveland. Recycling for other communities in Cuyahoga County is being sent to recycling-specific facilities.

"Curbside recycling collected in the other 57 communities in the county are sent to three northeast Ohio material recovery facilities to be processed. The problems experienced by Cleveland were due in large part to residents not recycling properly. Proper recycling reduces the cost of recycling by reducing the amount of non-recyclable material that has to be removed from the marketable materials," the organization said in a message to the community.

Cleveland residents can make use of the district's handful of recycling drop-off locations, which can be found on the group's website.

"Recycling is as important as ever. Cuyahoga residents can continue to support the success of their community recycling program by reducing contamination and recycling right. Recycle right by only placing cans, cartons, glass bottles and jars, mixed paper and boxes plus plastic bottles and jugs unbagged in your recycling cart or bin," the solid waste district said.