Splash photo by Josh Johnson

Gabriel Lucich with Waste Recycling Services Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, tracks his inventory while delivering a new 96-gallon recycling cart to a residence on Alpine Drive in Liberty Lake. Lucich said the company will be in the area for a few weeks as it was contracted to distribute the bins to unincorporated Waste Management customers.

More News

March Marvel-Calvary a catalyst for historic Gonzaga run

In Gear for Good
Kramer puts integrity first at Christian Brothers

City commissions offer chance to serve, enhance community
When Danetta “Dg” Garcia’s bid for a Liberty Lake City Council seat fell short, she didn’t give up on the idea of serving the city she calls home.

TT's Brewery and Barbecue Expands to Neighborhood Liberty Lake Location
In the smoky realm of barbecue, TT's BBQ has carved a niche for itself as a beacon of mouth watering flavors and culinary expertise for both their beer and food.

Daughters of The American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a volunteer women’s organization that has been dedicated to historical preservation, education, and patriotism for over a century. Across the United States, there are over 3,000 chapters supporting an estimated current membership of 200,000, with over one million total members since their founding in 1890.

HOA’s have different rules what it means for Police and streets
The city of Liberty Lake is known for its winding paths, street trees and homeowner’s associations. Recently, however, residents of some neighborhoods have been questioning the services they receive from the city, particularly police patrols and traffic enforcement.

Vietnam Veteran Pat Payne Receives his Combat Infantry Badge
Spokane Valley resident and Vietnam Veteran Pat Payne personifies bravery, resilience, and a profound commitment to supporting his fellow service members. Having served in the Vietnam War, Pat received both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals for his exceptional contributions and sacrifices. Unfortunately, at the time of his service discharge, a key ‘box’ was left unchecked, and he did not receive his Combat Infantry Badge or CIB until fifty-six years after leaving Vietnam.

Return Ticket Home; Fisher helped establish LL city roots
In the acclaimed 1940 novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” author Thomas Wolfe paints the picture of ambitious writer George Webber who leaves his rural hometown roots to seek fame and fortune in New York City.

At Home on Air – Media fixture Owsley relishes local roots
Sean Owsley’s first big break in the media world came when he was living in a modest apartment on Skipworth Road in Spokane Valley.

Spokane Valley Library employee is recognized by the Library of Congress
Spokane Valley Library was recently honored to receive a Certificate of Appreciation from the Library of Congress for its involvement in the Veterans History Project. The Library of Congress recognized the library's continuous dedication to preserving the stories and experiences of our nation's veterans. As part of this recognition, Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers presented a Certificate of Appreciation to Jeremy Mullin, a local resident actively involved in the project.

Council social media training degenerates into confrontation
Spokane Valley City Council training on policy regarding social media accounts and use of the city’s logo turned from benignly informative to heatedly combative after an exchange between two council members at the Jan. 9 meeting.

Central Valley School District Prop. 1

Eat, Shop, and Be Merry

Water Works

2023 Candidate Guide

Sporting in Liberty Lake

Closing the Chasm

Congratulations First Ridgeline High School Graduating Class of 2023

2023 Liberty Lake Kiwanis Yard Sales are Coming!
Click here to register today! Only $15 to get into the printed and online guide!

Public Safety Raised to New Level

Parks and Art Commission

Looking Ahead to 2023

Eat, Shop and Be Merry

New city administrator

Liberty Lake Kiwanis Yard Sale Interactive Map!

Liberty Lake Kiwanis Yard Sale Guide - Now Available!!

Conrats 2022 Senior Graduates

Pavillion Park

You Are Invited

Destination Liberty Lake

Liberty Lake's Lego Home

Making and Impact 2022

Search the News Archive Search the News Archive

New recycling options, schedule landing in LL
10/10/2012 9:55:56 AM

By Jim Ryan
Splash Contributor

Liberty Lake residents will have a new destination for their junk mail this month, not to mention items like cereal boxes and mixed plastics that have long been treated as trash. This week, the community is in the midst of a transition to a new Waste Management recycling program that doesn't just expand recyclables, but supersizes the blue container those recyclables are deposited into.

Representatives of Waste Recycling Services Inc. began distributing new 96-gallon carts to single-family homes in unincorporated Liberty Lake (those living south of Sprague Avenue) on Monday, and Waste Management will follow suit beginning next Monday for city residents. The carts replace the present 18-gallon blue bins and are intended to be a one-stop container for all the family's recyclable materials.

As a rule of thumb, once the carts are delivered the first pick-up will occur two weeks later. With the new cart delivery, there will be either a green or yellow plastic bag attached that will contain an introductory letter and a recycling guide with the basic information explaining the program. Waste Management District Manager Marco Gonzalez said it is vital that each household retain the guide and the attached calendar because it highlights the collection weeks. The southern portion of Liberty Lake's recycling will be picked up on one Monday, while the northern part will be picked up the following Monday. Typical garbage collection will continue to be picked up on a weekly basis.

At the present time, the program is designed for only single family homes and does not include apartment complexes or local businesses.

Ken Gimpel, Waste Management Municipal Relations Manager for Eastern Washington/ Idaho, explained that the basic change for the program is that residents will go from their 18-gallon bins collected weekly with only limited recyclable materials to the larger container collected every other week, which will take a myriad of recyclable products, including clean paper and cardboard, glass bottles and jars, metal and foil and plastic containers.

Advertisement

He emphasized customers must be cautious not to place their regular garbage in the new recycle carts, as that could contaminate the entire load once the truck reaches the recycling center.

AT A GLANCE
‘Goodbye bins,
hello carts'
96-gallon carts are currently being delivered to single family homes in Liberty Lake to replace the 18-gallon blue bins. The carts will be picked up every other week. South Liberty Lake (basically county residents) are receiving bins this week, while the northern part of Liberty Lake (city residents) is scheduled to begin receiving carts on Monday. 

Newly acceptable
Among the items that weren't accepted in the old bins but can be deposited in the new carts: Junk mail and office paper; cereal and other food boxes; expansion of mixed plastics; clean metal and foil; and much more. 

For more
Check out the information delivered with your new cart, or visit www.wmnorthwest.com.
 
Gimpel said the most convenient aspect of the new program is that all the recyclables will be able to be comingled in the carts. He explained that a person will be able to throw away a cereal box, glass or plastic orange juice container and last year's phone book at the same time without separating them or securing them in individual plastic bags. 

Indeed, plastic trash bags are discouraged for use in the recycling carts as they could clog the separating equipment at the new Spokane Material and Recycling Technology (SMART) Center. The $20 million center, which is located next to the Waste to Energy plant on the West Plains, opened last month.

Although the new carts will allow for the combining of a multitude of recyclable products, the new technology in place at the SMART Center has the ability to sort each item as it speeds along on a conveyor belt.
Gonzalez said that the change is ultimately in response to years of customer comments as to why Waste Management wasn't accepting materials that have been typically considered recyclable.

"Our customers were asking more of us, and the SMART facility and the larger carts are the solution," Gonzalez said. "And the change of going from a weekly collection to every other week is part of our efforts to control the cost of such a large conversion without raising the rates for our customers."

Collection of both garbage and recycling is one set rate for Waste Management's customers, depending on the size of their trash container, and right now there are no plans to raise rates to those single family customers utilizing the new program.

Gimpel said Liberty Lake customers will also be seeing new Waste Management trucks picking up the carts.  The company recently purchased 18 new trucks that will run on natural gas instead of diesel. He explained the older trucks with diesel engines have a fuel cost of a little more than $4 per gallon. Running the new trucks will cut that cost to about $1.69 per gallon.

The new vehicles will not be able to handle the phased-out, 18-gallon bins, Gimpel said, as they are designed to top-load the new carts, and the drivers will not be able to dump the smaller bins into the trucks.

When the new carts are delivered, customers have the option of keeping the smaller blue bins for storage or anything they wish, excluding recyclables, or setting them out alongside the new carts and Waste Management will take them away to be recycled, he said.