Denison to consider halt to recycling services

DENISON, Texas (KTEN) — The city of Denison's contract with Waste Connections for curbside recycling service is set to expire in 2023, and the city has started to examine all recycling options.

Some of the alternatives include visiting recycling stations and residential collecting stations, renewing the contract with Waste Connections, or stopping the service all together in 2023.

Capital Improvement Project manager Fanchon Sterns said the city is looking at all the angles.

"We're not canceling at this time," she said. "We're exploring all kinds of different options. It's a good time to explore."

Another problem for recycling is contamination.  Sterns said the City of Denison sees it in over half of recycled goods using the curbside service.

"Waste Connections provides us with numbers based on contamination, and they estimate probably 60 percent or more of our recycling is contaminated."

Possible solutions for that problem include educational campaigns.

For now, the Denison City Council will contemplate whether or not to continue the recycling program, and for how long it will be maintained.