Beaches Go Green recommends reducing plastic use during recycling suspension

JACKSONVILLE, Fl. — Those still looking to recycle will soon have to take their items farther than just to the end of the driveway.

Starting Monday, October 4th the city of Jacksonville is temporarily suspending curbside recycling pickup in order to catch up on the backlog of trash and yard waste collection that has been an ongoing complaint in many neighborhoods.

The city will operate 14 recycling drop-off locations to help with the suspension of curbside pickup.

READ MORE: Over 14,000 trash pickup complaints filed with the City of Jacksonville since Aug.

Anne Marie Moquin, the Founder and Executive Director of Beaches Go Green says this is a great time to learn how to recycle properly and push for the overall reduction of single use plastics.

“A lot of people think that if it has the recycle symbol on the bottom of it, it means it can go into your curbside bin, but unfortunately there’s not a lot of regulation on companies and products putting that symbol on their products, so just because it has that symbol doesn’t mean it’s recyclable in your curbside bin,” Moquin said.

It’s important to make sure all recyclable items are empty, clean, and dry. They should be loose and not tied up in plastic garbage bags or grocery bags. “Anything that’s bagged in a plastic bag immediately gets diverted to a landfill,” Moquin added.

She also says don’t use recycling as a crutch for always buying single use plastics, “because ultimately it ends up being landfilled and it’s super wasteful, it’ll be on our planet for maybe a couple hundred years.” She stresses that it’s important to choose less plastics and focus more on reusable containers.

Choosing items that are metal and glass or things in paper packaging over plastic is always the better option because plastics break down into smaller pieces called microplastics which can impact the health of people, animals, and the overall environment.

Moquin adds that she wants to see the city of Jacksonville commit to an education program before they reinstate the recycling program so residents know how single-stream recycling works and understand what can be put in the bins. She also explained that reinstating multi-stream recycling could be a better option. “It’s quality over quantity of materials,” Moquin stated.

More information on Beaches Go Green can be found on their website and Facebook page.

These items are accepted in Jacksonville:

Paper

• Mail, office and school paper
• Newspapers, magazines, catalogs, phone books
• Paperback books
• Brown paper bags
• Fiberboard boxes (cracker/cereal)
• Corrugated cardboard (flattened and 2′x3′ or smaller)

Plastics

• Numbered 1-3, 5 and 7
• Water/soda bottles
• Detergent bottles
• Cleaning solution bottles Cartons
• Milk and creamer containers
• Juice boxes
• Soup and broth containers

Glass

• Green, brown or clear bottles and jars (discard lids with garbage)

Metal

• Steel food containers
• Aluminum cans
• Aluminum baking pans

These items are not accepted in Jacksonville:

• Any #4 Plastics (LDPE) - Includes items such as cling (Saran) wrap, sandwich bags, plastic garbage or grocery bags
• Any #6 Plastics (Polystyrene) - Includes items such as all types of Styrofoam, packing peanuts, plastic cutlery, hangers, and medicine bottles
• Aerosol cans
• Shredded paper
• Weapons
• Batteries
• Fireworks or flares
• Needles
• Cables or wires
• Rubber
• Food or yard waste

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