Utahns love to recycle.

They have just one complaint. They can't get enough -- whether it's information about recycling or access to it, especially for glass and household hazardous waste disposal.

A new opinion poll sponsored by the state Department of Environmental Quality details a groundswell of support for recycling throughout Utah. Recycling is important to 87 percent of Utahns, the survey says, with 94 percent viewing it more positively than they did five years ago.

"That's exactly the camp we fall into," said David Jackson, whose wife, Kirsten Hepburn, and 8-month-old daughter, Lila, maintain a strong environmental ethic at their Avenues home.

"We do everything we can in terms of the three R's -- reduce, reuse, recycle."

Jackson's family, like many of the 803 people who responded to the Dan Jones & Associates poll, said they have dropped off glass and household hazardous waste at designated disposal sites. And they've wondered about green waste, compost-able food scraps, yard waste and other organic discards.

At the Salt Lake County sanitation offices, Pam Roberts and Lorna Vogt said the enthusiasm and the concerns raised in the poll are familiar.

"The bottom line is that people will recycle as long as it's convenient," said Roberts, the county sanitation director.

One sign of this support is the stream of inquiries that come into her office. When will the county's biweekly collection go weekly? When can we recycle glass in our blue bins? How about another bin for green waste?

Another sign of support is the leap in recycling at the 80,000 homes her office serves. When all those homes got blue containers, as opposed to having to opt-in and pay a surcharge for one, participation surged. Now almost 14 percent of the county's waste is diverted from the landfill.

"Everyone's in favor of recycling," said Roberts. "It's just trying to make sure it's cost-effective and there's a market."

Jennifer Harris, recycling coordinator for Washington County in southwestern Utah, saw the support for recycling firsthand last week. As she toured the new recycling bins the county put out last fall, some were stuffed with holiday waste, she said.

The program, which already has been expanded, is funded with 50 cents on local garbage bills of $8 to $11. And residents -- including the state's more rural, conservative residents -- want even more, she added.

"This is not a small percentage of young Utahns, or an issue for Californians who have moved here -- it's a broad spectrum," she said.

People "want to know more about it, and they want their cities and their counties to step up and do something."

Sam Schroyer, recycling coordinator for DEQ, called the poll results "eye popping." He said that many people don't realize that sometimes it does not yet make sense economically to recycle some waste, like glass, because there just isn't a market for it.

"It's going to take several years before recycling becomes more cost-effective for everything than just throwing it in the garbage," he said.

The state does not oversee most recycling programs. That's the job of cities and counties, and that's the way most Utahns -- about two-thirds -- like it, the poll says. Besides curbside recycling, there are special options for glass, newspapers, metal, yard waste, fluorescent light bulbs, prescription drugs and household hazardous waste.

There also are collection sites for computers, electronics, cell phones, Styrofoam, packing peanuts, cardboard boxes, tires, oil, car batteries, eye glasses and plastic grocery bags. Contact your local sanitation office or, in Salt Lake County, check www.recycle.slco.org for more information.

fahys@sltrib.com