SURPRISE — The city of Surprise is reintroducing its curbside recycling program that was halted in 2019 due to operational costs.
The director of the city's public works department says the United States has since strengthened its recycling market and local vendors have made "significant" investments in their processing facilities, leading to a cleaner recycling stream and a reduction of good recyclable material ending up in the landfill.
"Due to these improvements and the desire of our residents to provide more recycling options, Surprise believes that this [is] an ideal time to reinstate its curbside recycling program," Public Works Director Kristin Tytler wrote in an email.
The "pre-launch" program will begin on Monday, July 24, with a full launch anticipated in early 2024, according to Tytler.
During the pre-launch period, the recycling bins will be collected by a recycling truck on regularly scheduled trash pickup days.
The city says bins will be checked by the city's public works team to look for unacceptable items. Educational tags will then be left to help residents avoid violations when the recycling program officially begins.
Although a recycling truck will pick up the blue bins, everything will continue to be landfilled until the program officially begins to allow for the materials to be checked, according to the city's statement.
To have your recycling and trash bins picked up, be sure to have them out by 6 a.m. and at least four feet away from each other and 15 feet away from all vehicles.
During the pre-launch period, the city's drop-off recycling program will continue. Materials can be dropped off at the Public Works North Yard, located at 17274 N Litchfield Rd, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.
According to Tytler, the drop-off recycling facility receives approximately 10 tons of recyclable materials per month.
"While the amount of drop-off materials at this facility was not a factor in bringing recycling back to Surprise, it is indicative of the desire of our residents to continue recycling," Tytler wrote in an email.
