The Observation Deck

Marilyn from the Refuse Department reminded me today...

Refuse & Recycling Changes Due to COVID-19
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Lakewood is making the following changes to it’s refuse and recycling collections.

The Refuse and Recycling Drop Off Center located at 12920 Berea Road will amend the hours of operation to Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Saturdays from 8:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m. for residents of Lakewood to drop off household and bulk garbage, yard waste, and recyclables.

Residents should bring their driver’s license or other I.D. to verify their Lakewood residency.

A satellite station will be available starting on Monday March 30th at the skate park at Lakewood Park (14532 Lake Avenue . There will be separate trucks for household and bulk garbage, yard waste, and recyclables. This station will also maintain the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday-Friday. This station will not have Saturday hours.

The City is asking residents to help the Refuse and Recycling Department safely maintain collection services during the Stay at Home order. If you live on the side of the street with parking, please consider placing your garbage and recycling toters in your driveway apron.

Residents are asked to fit as much material as possible in their respective totes- break down cardboard and bag all garbage.

I would like to thank Marilyn, and all of the City Workers during this period of time, and all the time.

You guys rock!

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after reading about the City non-recycling, is Lakewood ACTUALLY recycling? Thanks

vernon sendelbach wrote:after reading about the City non-recycling, is Lakewood ACTUALLY recycling? Thanks

I hope someone with more direct knowledge will address this (Dan O'Malley?). My understanding is that the City of Cleveland is sending its recycling along with the regular trash to a landfill, but not Lakewood.

Dan Alaimo wrote:

vernon sendelbach wrote:after reading about the City non-recycling, is Lakewood ACTUALLY recycling? Thanks

I hope someone with more direct knowledge will address this (Dan O'Malley?). My understanding is that the City of Cleveland is sending its recycling along with the regular trash to a landfill, but not Lakewood.

We ran across this in other communities back when we started. We had seen a massive move to hiring companies outside the communities to handle their recycling. Once the contract is approved the City is on top of their recycling plan. Even if the company they hired isn't . With the glut of recyclables and no one buying recycled stuff more and more went to landfills.

Then there was the strange case of sending it all to China, or in the case of Prius batteries to landfills in Brazil. There were some reports that Chinese freighters would come to America with products and leave with trash. But by the time they pulled into China they were empty and ready for more freight. This was one of the thought processes to where The Great Pacific Garbage Patch came from.



With laws and outrage, plausible deniability has become the hallmark of Humans.

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Jim O'Bryan wrote:

Dan Alaimo wrote:

vernon sendelbach wrote:after reading about the City non-recycling, is Lakewood ACTUALLY recycling? Thanks

I hope someone with more direct knowledge will address this (Dan O'Malley?). My understanding is that the City of Cleveland is sending its recycling along with the regular trash to a landfill, but not Lakewood.

We ran across this in other communities back when we started. We had seen a massive move to hiring companies outside the communities to handle their recycling. Once the contract is approved the City is on top of their recycling plan. Even if the company they hired isn't . With the glut of recyclables and no one buying recycled stuff more and more went to landfills.

Then there was the strange case of sending it all to China, or in the case of Prius batteries to landfills in Brazil. There were some reports that Chinese freighters would come to America with products and leave with trash. But by the time they pulled into China they were empty and ready for more freight. This was one of the thought processes to where The Great Pacific Garbage Patch came from.



With laws and outrage, plausible deniability has become the hallmark of Humans.

.

jim
You miss the question, which admittedly was not clearly stated, but is Lakewood's recycling product going to a recycling depot, whether in China or anyplace else, or is it going to a landfill like Cleveland's. I take it that you don't know for sure and that is okay. Is there someone out there who does know who is willing to answer (Dan O'Malley?)?

Dan Alaimo wrote:

vernon sendelbach wrote:after reading about the City non-recycling, is Lakewood ACTUALLY recycling? Thanks

I hope someone with more direct knowledge will address this (Dan O'Malley?). My understanding is that the City of Cleveland is sending its recycling along with the regular trash to a landfill, but not Lakewood.

My understanding is that Lakewood is now sending its recycling to a different facility to ensure that it’s actually being recycled. This is more expensive because a) they charge more per ton to take the material and b) the new facility is further away. The public works department is looking for a moRe sustainable long-term options, but the bottom line is yes, your recycling is being recycled.

Yes, Monday's Public Works & Sustainability Committee addressed this. I recall the Public Works Director mentioning that Lakewood's recycling is currently going someplace further away than before, I forget where exactly. (There's video, if anyone's really curious.)

PWS Committee Chair, Councilperson Rader, also had a prepared communication which is in the meeting agenda.

I was pleased to find that the City of Lakewood is recycling the materials collected from residents and remains committed to keeping our recycling program at current levels. Further, the city expressed a strong desire to take this opportunity to help educate residents on our recycling and refuse program. Even though Lakewood has stayed ahead of the curve on recycling, we are not immune from external pressures, and ultimately, recycling has become more complicated and thus more expensive.

So absolutely, do continue to recycle. Lakewood's rate is not awful but certainly has room to improve.

If people want to help with the recycling rate and/or the cost, please be mindful of recycling only what's recyclable through the curbside pickup system. It's currently paper and cardboard, cans, cartons, glass bottles and jars, and plastic bottles and jugs. If you're getting rid of tubs or clamshell containers, e.g., put them in your trash; putting them in the blue bin only causes problems which cost more, one way or another.

Dan Alaimo wrote:jim
You miss the question, which admittedly was not clearly stated, but is Lakewood's recycling product going to a recycling depot, whether in China or anyplace else, or is it going to a landfill like Cleveland's. I take it that you don't know for sure and that is okay. Is there someone out there who does know who is willing to answer (Dan O'Malley?)?

Dan

NO I didn't the answer is there look at Council President's Dan O'Malley and MJ Kuhn's answers.

We gave the same answers, I just gave more background to it.

Cities hie companies to do it for them. From that point, it is more up to the companies than the cities. Which makes it very hard to track. Musch harder to track than the sale of Lakewood's Oaks during the last administration. Those we just followed day after day to the lumber yard.

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