Michael Bushnell
Publisher

The City of Kansas City, Mo., on Monday morning rolled out a new program designed to cut down the amount of litter and trash that blows away from open recycling bins after they’ve been set out for collection. City residents will begin to receive free 65-gallon recycling carts designed to keep recyclables from blowing into the next county on trash day.

The effort represents a $1.5 million public-private partnership between the City of Kansas City, The Recycling Partnership, the American Beverage Association, Dow Chemical and Rehrig Pacific, a plastics manufacturing company with a facility in DeSoto, Kan.

“We have heard from you and we thank you,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said at Monday’s press event at the City’s waste and recycling headquarters on Chouteau Trafficway. “We are doing what people expect us to do, cleaning up Kansas City as we talk about environmental sustainability.”

Councilwoman Heather Hall co-sponsored the ordinance along with Councilmembers Robinson, Parks-Shaw, Loar, Fowler and O’Neill, that passed in June, 2022.

“When I first entered office, the first week I was there, Councilwoman Hall came into my office and threw down about 15,000 sheets of paper that said, ‘We want better trash pick up,’” said First District Councilman Kevin O’Neill. “This is going to take a 32-gallon recyclable bin to a 64-gallon so we’re doubling the amount of recyclable materials that every resident will be able to put at the curb.”

O’Neill added that the City is currently working on a trash cart program to partner with the new recycling carts.

City Manager Brian Platt cited a number of initiatives currently underway, designed to reduce trash flow to area landfills.

“This is one of many initiatives that we’ve got going on here in Kansas City to reduce waste going to our landfills and to clean up our city,” Platt said. “We’re working on a new residential composting program, we’re expanding dumpster days in neighborhoods, expanding the bulky item collection program and we’ve got new resources and partnerships and adding staff to clean up our streets.”

Beginning Monday, May 1, the City will begin delivering the 162,000 free recycling carts to every residence in the city that qualifies for trash service. According to Public Works Director Michael Shaw, the process should take about four months.

“Please be patient,” Shaw noted. “We’ll be going out across the city, we’re actually starting today so if you’re on a Monday trash route in the Northland, South and Central part of the city, set your recycling bin out as you normally would and the City will pick that up and leave a new recycling cart in its place.”

Shaw also stated that seniors or disabled residents with Front Door service will continue to receive that service. Those wishing to opt out of the program may do so by calling the City’s 311 Action Center or by using the MyKCMO app and following the prompts.