Editorial: Recycle recycling plan

Friday, April 29, 2005 | 5:13 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

April 30 - May 1, 2005

Republic Services has an exclusive contract to pick up trash and recycling in the Las Vegas Valley. Two weeks ago we reported on a tentative plan by the company to change from twice-a-week garbage pickup to once a week. In exchange for this halving of garbage service, the company was to pick up recycling weekly, instead of every other week. And it would replace the 12-gallon crates for sorted paper, tin, plastic and glass products with one 95-gallon container. Residents were mostly hostile to the plan, objecting to the larger containers and fearing that reduced garbage pickup would create smelly, messy homes and neighborhoods.

But this doesn't mean that Republic Services shouldn't improve its lackluster recycling program. In 1991 Nevada set a statewide goal of having 25 percent of its trash recycled by 1996. While the nation, on average, has achieved 30 percent, Clark County perennially hovers around 10 percent. Republic Services has an obligation to do better -- without cutting back on its garbage service or saddling people with gigantic containers.

It could start by working with apartment managers on a plan to pick up recyclables at their complexes. Clark County could help, too, by appointing an active recycling coordinator, one who would educate the public about the value of recycling, and prod Republic Services into developing a plan that actually served the community.