OREGON, Ohio — Oregon City officials voted Monday night to eliminate curbside recycling services and move to use garbage services for both recycling and garbage.
City officials said it was a hard decision to make, but that it would help because there was no guarantee that their recycled things were actually being recycled.
That unknown, along with a few other reasons, is what pushed council members to make the decision to change the ways the community recycles.
Oregon City Administrator Mike Beazley said their community has embraced using curbside recycling, but each year they would spend at least $300,000 for things to end up going to a trash site anyway.
"Our problem is that the world has changed. The market has changed, the places that we ultimately can take it has changed, the rest of the world that used to want our recycling no longer wants it, and the city has made a tough decision to switch from curbside recycling to recycling drop off centers," Beazley said.
There will be five to six recycling drop-off centers that people can go to.
City officials will announce those centers in the upcoming weeks. They also say the change may not last forever but will go into effect on Dec. 1.
If you do not want to go to the recycling centers, once those changes become effective, some trash disposables like water bottles, that you would normally recycle, will now go in the trash.
MORE FROM WTOL: