CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland is celebrating a major milestone when it comes to recycling and clean energy.
Officials say the revamped recycling program is working and gaining some serious traction.
They've already collected 900 tons of materials from going into landfills just this year.
That means they're on track to surpass last year's 1,100 tons of recycled materials.
City leaders say the first program failed and went away a few years ago.
The revamped opt-in program now has a loyal and growing following with currently 70,000 residents strong who have educated themselves on how to properly do it.
"It's something I believe in, and it's something I'm gonna continue to do. My family did," Ethan Large said.
When Large says he and his neighbors are passionate about recycling, he means it.
Large blue bins with stickers that read "Recycle Cleveland" can be found on virtually every tree lawn along West 103rd Street in Cleveland's Cudell West Boulevard neighborhood.
When the city re-introduced the program in June of 2022—Large says everyone jumped on board for obvious reasons.
"As a whole, most people did it. One, it's convenient because you get another can and you're kind of doing something good in the process."
The City of Cleveland Recycling Coordinator Ren Brumfield says the program has made a major comeback after the city canceled the initial one due to skyrocketing costs and so few people following the recycling rules.
"We had gotten to the point a couple years ago where we had like over 60% contamination rate which meant that most of the stuff we put into the recycling bin was actually trash," Brumfield said.
Since June 2022, Brumfield says there has been a resurgence in recycling participation.
The contracted partnership with Rumpke has successfully sent roughly 1,100 tons of recyclables to the vendor, diverting them from the landfill.
In 2023, it's looking even better.
"This year so far—just January to March we've already saved 900 tons of material from going into the landfill. So, it's almost the same amount that we did in the six months of last year—we've done in the first three months of this year," Brumfield said.
Brumfield says it appears people are catching on and understanding how and what you can recycle, but the work is not over just yet.
More than 27,000 households enrolled in the opt-in program by the end of 2022.
That number jumped to nearly 70,000 households out of 150,000 in 2023.
This summer, they will focus on education and more community involvement.
"I wanna make sure that everybody knows. I wanna include everyone so that we can do this collectively as a city," Brumfield said.
Large applauds the move and says it's a sign of progress and growth within the city.
"Seeing them have that good success will allow them to make decisions to do more programs moving forward," Large said.
If you want to enroll in the city of Cleveland's recycling program, call 216-664-3030 OR Dial 3-1-1.
You can sign up and get more information here.
