East Ridge to begin curbside recycling Sept. 9

photo Public Works employees Mark Johnson, left, and Antwon Jones collect curbside recycling in this file photo.

TO SIGN UPForms to join the East Ridge recycling program are available at City Hall, East Ridge Community Center, East Ridge Library and East Ridge Recycling Center. You can also download the online form at the city's website, www.eastridgetn.org. Sign it and email it back to amiller@eastridgetn.org. You can also fax your application to 423-892-6529. For more information, call 423-490-0078.

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East Ridge is getting a little greener.

Beginning Sept. 9, the city plans to offer curbside recycling services every Friday to residents who sign up.

"We think there's a demand for it," said City Manager Tim Gobble. "It's an opportunity to help preserve our environment, and it's an opportunity for the city to offset some of its costs."

Once residents sign up for the program, they can place all plastics, aluminum cans and paper in the city's designated 96-gallon can. The city will not pick up recycling materials placed in a bag or any other container.

There's no additional charge for the service -- it is paid for from the $5 garbage tax hike the city passed this year. The $15 monthly fee includes weekly garbage pickup, weekly brush and debris pickup, monthly bulk-item pickup and the recycle program.

As of Thursday, Gobble said, more than 100 residents had signed up to participate.

But if enough people sign up for recycling, revenues gained from selling the materials to the RockTenn Co. could allow the program to pay for itself and save the city money, Gobble said.

RockTenn, a national company with a location in Chattanooga, recovers, processes and sells recyclable materials. It also produces corrugated and consumer packaging from recycled materials, according to the company website.

"If it means less material that we have to haul to the dump, it saves us money," Gobble said.

City officials said they were still in talks with RockTenn about what rates the company will pay the city per recycling load.

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