Kansas City to spend $6M for recycling carts, more bulky trash pickup, composting
After years of public complaints, a solution is on the way for Kansas Citians tired of the wind blowing their recycling across their yards or rain ruining their attempts to recycle cardboard boxes.
The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved a plan to spend $5.4 million on recycling carts — with lids — replacing the smaller open containers the city currently provides. The move is a change of course from an initial proposal to spend $17 million on both recycling and trash carts.
The legislation passed 11-1, with Councilman Brandon Ellington, District 3 at-large, voting no.
Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, District 3, said that while this ordinance didn’t address the problem of litter and trash, she hopes the city can tackle that in future budget cycles.
The plan provides for 162,000 free carts, which Mayor Quinton Lucas said will help reduce pollution.
Additionally, the city will spend $785,000 in federal pandemic stimulus aid — the American Rescue Plan Fund — to pay for four separate programs. Of that, $200,000 will pay for 400 new neighborhood dumpsters for additional bulky-item pickups. Another $250,000 will go to a recycling education campaign. Another $250,000 will pay for a composting pilot program, to begin educating residents about how to recycle food and other organic waste. And $85,000 pays for cart maintenance.
Lucas said the push for composting will lead to fewer instances of animals tearing into trash bags.
“The reason for that is that we want to be pro-environmental with these solutions,” Lucas said. “The solution to our trash problem isn’t just actually dumping more trash. It’s figuring out what doesn’t need to actually be in your trash bin, what can be somewhere else, and that will ultimately reduce costs for us.”
Lucas said this also aligns with the city’s long-term climate goals. He said he’ll look to the city’s Environmental Management Committee and Climate Protection Steering Committee to join the discussions for long-term solutions. The climate committee is currently reviewing the city’s Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan, which is expected to go to the council next month.
The initial ordinance to buy trash and recycling bins for residents would have taken almost $6.2 million from the COVID-19 stimulus funding and another $10.8 million from the city’s general fund.
A trash bin program is the next step, Lucas said. Currently, residents are allotted two plastic bags of trash each week.
A city audit released in April found it takes the Public Works Department an average of 24 days to clean up a site of illegal dumping after receiving a report. The audit also found that resident satisfaction with illegal dump cleanup is at its lowest in six years.
“I always say in city government, you have to walk and chew gum,” Lucas said. “World Cups are great, right? Conferences of mayors are great,” he said, referring to the possibility that Kansas City will host the international soccer match and the announcement that the city will host the United States Conference of Mayors in 2024.
“But if you’re not picking up the trash and paving the roads, people are still gonna have problems.”
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 2:05 PM.
