Allied waste is removing their plastic recycling bins from around the city, a decision that wasn't made lightly.
"We had to remove them because of contamination" said Kim Vincent of Allied Waste, "the contamination became so severe that it was either remove the containers completely and stop collecting plastics, or bring them back to the facility."
Contaminants ranged from tires, bottles, dead animals and other non-recyclable items that had to be removed by hand, costing Allied Waste thousands.
"It was a very difficult business decision that we made, but it was a decision that had to be made in order to be able to keep the service for Amarillo," said Vincent.
Allied is leaving bins up that accept other recyclable items such as paper, and will still accept plastic items at their Amarillo location. But for those that seek a more convenient route to recycle plastic there are alternatives, like KB Recycling.
"We provide homes with two bins for paper, plastic, aluminum, cardboard," said Jordy Finly, KB Vice President, "It's really just a curbside pickup where we make it convenient on customers to recycle."
The curbside pickup comes at a small fee, but is an option for those wishing to 'go green' from home.
Allied began moving the bins officially on August 1st.
