Wadesboro residents lost their downtown recycling location when the town council halted the program earlier this month.
Following concerns brought before them in June by Public Services Director Hugh James, council members ended the service July 11 because prohibited items continued to appear in the bin, located behind the Wadesboro Police Department.
James said that the town has had non-recyclable items — including a microwave — dumped in the receptacle. If any prohibited items are found, the company the town takes the recyclables to won’t accept any of the load, forcing the town to dump the mix of acceptable and prohibited items into the county landfill.
“It was such a good thing,” Town Manager Alex Sewell said. “The council loved it, the people loved it.”
Sewell said that the situation was frustrating for the town.
“It makes us sad that people can’t follow the rules in this situation,” he said.
Although the program was introduced last year, the problems only popped up more recently.
“At first, it was great,” Sewell said. “No one was dumping trash. So we had longer hours, expanded them because everybody was following the rules. Now it seems like more and more prohibited items are found, and in some cases, trash.”
Sewell said the town considered reducing the hours available for residents to take their recycling but that ultimately the council decided to put the program on “hiatus” until a solution can be found.
Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.