Will El Paso Shut Down Curbside Recycling? It Just Might

El Pasoans are getting used to not putting their blue recycling bins out on their curbs for the month of December but could that become a permanent thing?

The City of El Paso announced late last month that they were suspending the recycling program because of the COVID pandemic. Officials said that drivers were either getting infected, being exposed to the virus, or dealing with the aftermath of family members getting sick or dying from the coronavirus. As a result, officials said they couldn't safely maintain the program and decided to put it on hold and then revisit restarting it next year.

This week, officials with the City's Environmental Services Department said they they were going to take things 30 days at a time before deciding when to restart the curbside pick up recycling program. They said the restart would depend on the numbers of drivers available, but they also continue to point out that in the last 14 years of recycling, only one year of landfill space has been saved. Officials also said they spend close to $5 million a year on all the recycling program.

All of that information begs the question - will the curbside recycling program in El Paso be closed down permanently? Officials say having a recycling program is a quality of life service and closing it down forever isn't as easy as it sounds. Doing so would also likely cost taxpayers some money because there is a contract with the recycling program that runs through 203 to think of. But as one Environmental Services official told a local news station, it is always possible to get lawyers involved.

If you do plan on continuing with recycling you can click here for the Citizen Collection Sites.