Des Moines Public Works’ recycling helpers improved city’s recycling stream

DES MOINES, Iowa — Friday is National Recycling Day and Des Moines Public Works says the city's recycling stream has improved with the help of their summer program.

Last summer, Public Works hired five interns to work as recycling helpers . They were each assigned a route and assessed every resident's recycling bins in search of any contaminations, like plastic bags, fabric, food, and others.

When violations were found, the bin wouldn't get collected and the resident received documentation explaining what items don't belong inside the recycling stream. After three violations, the city confiscated the resident's bin. The program's goal wasn't to punish residents but to promote education.

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Craig Shepherd is the Operations Manager for Public Works. He said that 238 bins have been taken away since 2020, but a majority of these were confiscated last summer. Due to the program's success, they plan to bring it back next summer.

"I think it's a very satisfying part of my job actually," said Shepherd.

Even though the program is over, the city is still monitoring the recycling stream. Truck drivers are detecting violations year-round, thus, residents can still get their bins taken away after three violations.

Shepherd says residents who got their bins taken away can apply online after a year to receive a bin again.

The city is also encouraging residents to continue educating themselves on what items can and cannot go inside their recycling bins. Updates to technology can change what items can and cannot be processed in the material recovery facility.

Pizza boxes, for example, used to be nonrecyclable in the city of Des Moines. However, new developments allow for pizza boxes to be recycled as long as they don't contain any food and aren't too greasy.