CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the Charleston City Council heard from consultants Wednesday about the city’s recycling efforts and methods for improving the program.
MSW Consultants presented its recycling program feasibility analysis to the city’s Environmental and Recycling Committee. The report noted the participation in the city’s recycling program as well as possible improvements to collection efforts.
The firm discovered the city’s participation rate is lower than the national average. The city mentioned in a statement regarding the study that a 2015 study found 19.5% of eligible residents participated in the program.
The consultants recommended creating a comprehensive education and outreach program to attract people to recycling, as well as promotion from city and county bodies.
Committee Chairman John Kennedy Bailey noted the consultants also focused part of the report on bringing processing to Charleston; the city currently delivers recyclable items to the Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority.
Services were paused from April 2020 to September 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Bringing the processing of our recycling back to Charleston is something we hope to do in the mid-term to long-term frame of time,” he said.
Bailey noted other Kanawha County communities are interested in recycling, and county offices have been valuable partners on other issues.
“Something that is located in Charleston or near Charleston and making use of those partnerships seems like the best way to go forward long term,” he said.
The city paid for the study through a West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection grant.