This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Starting next week, tens of thousands of Salt Lake County households will be able to take out the papers and the trash every week, thanks to a ramped-up curbside-recycling program.
Homeowners will have to put a little more spending cash into that service, but Mayor Peter Corroon describes it as a worthwhile investment that will extend the life of the landfill and do the environment good.
"While we are spending a dollar today," he said, "we are saving a dollar tomorrow."
The county estimates that 30 percent to 60 percent of the garbage it now collects could be recycled.
The new weekly curbside-recycling program will roll outThursday, providing a twofold increase to the biweekly service now available to 80,000 households in Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Herriman, Taylorsville and unincorporated suburbs such as Magna and Millcreek that now rely on the county for garbage pickup.
But officials are urging customers to keep their recycling bins off the street until they are more than half full.
"It saves us a little time and money," Corroon said.
The rise in service will bring a rise in prices.
Sanitation officials will impose a $2-a-month increase to cover the cost of curbside recycling and a hodgepodge of other rising expenses for things such as higher dumping fees and the placement of more bulky waste bins in neighborhoods. The sanitation district's previous fee hike came in 2007.
It's a price people are willing to pay, Corroon insists.
A county survey found 69 percent of customers want more curbside recycling. That's up from 41 percent in 2009. The number of people willing to pay more also has jumped from 36 percent to 60 percent.
"We hope this will send a clear message to communities to do more recycling," said Nicole Omer, a Cottonwood Heights councilwoman who leads the sanitation district's board. " We are willing to put our money where our mouth is. We hope that more communities will join us, both here in Utah and throughout the nation."
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