El Paso Officials Say Recycling Program Will Return In 2021
Last month the City of El Paso Environmental Services Department announced that they would be suspending the department's curbside recycling pickup service through the rest of 2020. Officials said that they were dealing with a lack of available staff because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were issues with their truck drivers being exposed to the virus, waiting for test results, and because they were working with about 50 available drivers, 12 - 15 hour shifts were not uncommon, but they were a problem.
The Department says they will be looking at restarting the recycling program next year but they will have to see how things shake out with the effect the pandemic has on their drivers. There were questions about whether the recycling program will come back at all, but it is unlikely that it will disappear. The Environmental Services Department has a contract that doesn't expire for another 16 years which means that even though the program has only saved a year's worth of space in the over ten years it has been in operation, the City is bound to continue due to the contract.
You can drop off your recycling at any Citizen Collection drop off location listed below. When recycling does return, it's important for all of us to get it right because it is something that is good for our environment but it is also a contract we will have to fulfill for years to come.
CITIZEN COLLECTION SITES:
2492 Harrison
1034 Pendale
4501 Hondo Pass
3510 Confederate3
121 Atlantic