The Lewis County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) will host a public hearing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, to decide whether to expand curbside recycling to residents living east of Morton, the county announced Monday.
The current program for recyclable paper, plastic bottles, jugs, tin cans, aluminum cans and cardboard extends from the county’s western border at Pe Ell to the city of Morton and its urban growth area. It has approximately 19,000 customers and keeps nearly 3,600 tons of recyclables out of the regional landfill annually, according to the county.
Preliminary results from a recent Lewis County Solid Waste Utility survey to gage interest in the proposed program expansion received a 20% response rate and showed half of the residents are interested in the program, according to the county.
If approved, the program would deliver 95-gallon curbside recycling containers to all customers who currently subscribe to curbside garbage collection. If residents have once per month garbage service, or use the occasional bag service, they would be able to opt out of the program.
The program currently costs customers $8.49 per month, with a 55-cent rebate offered each month based on the proceeds of the sale of recyclables, according to the county.
