WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - The Waterloo City Council has voted not to refund a fee to residents after material they sorted for recycling for two months was dumped in a landfill.
City Council members voted 4-3 on Monday to reject paying $6 back to each of the curbside recycling service customers whose cardboard, cans, newspapers and plastics were taken to the landfill in December and January, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (https://bit.ly/2nwpsjC ) reported.
Councilman Bruce Jacobs said it was only fair to give back the money.
“What they really wanted was for their recyclables to be recycled,” Jacobs said. “That’s what they signed up for, but they didn’t get it.”
Councilman Ron Welper said the service was designed to take the materials but wasn’t necessarily a guarantee of recycling.
“The fee of $3 is just to pick the can up,” said Welper, noting residents pay more for regular garbage collection.
Public Works Director Mark Rice said the city learned just before the December collection that Cedar Valley Recycling and Transfer couldn’t take the curbside items for recycling. The business told the city it was still closed two days before the January collection.
Fire Chief Pat Treloar said the business was working to resolve fire code issues.
Rice said the city’s options were to cancel the collection or arrange for transportation to haul the material to Cedar Rapids and pay three times more for the service.
“Sometimes you just get caught behind the 8-ball and there’s just so much you can do,” Rice said. “In retrospect. . a press release should have been. . issued to notify the customers that they may want to separate their recycling and take it to one of the five individual recycling centers that we have around the city.”
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Information from: Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, https://www.wcfcourier.com
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