Don't worry, says sanitation department staff, your recyclable trash is not going here.
A ruckus recently erupted on the Lakewood NeighborhoodAssociation Facebook group page over a homeowner’s photo — snapped about two weeks ago — of a sanitation worker dumping the contents of a recycling bin into a regular ol’ dump truck, as opposed to the cleaner recycling truck, which takes recyclables to a recycling plant rather than our city’s vast McCommas Bluff landfill.
Before the anger over the indiscretion got too out of hand, a note from Sanitation Department’s Mary Nix to a group member explained some things:
“I saw your post from earlier today about recycling. Please don’t panic !! Your recycling IS going to the recycling plant – not the landfill. Yes, we are short on trucks just now – and have cleaned and refurbished some garbage trucks –and they are living a second life as recycling trucks. We’ll put new signage on them – I hope that will relieve the confusion. But in case you are not reassured, please call me at 214.670.3555 and I will show you or send you the GPS records that prove where our trucks are going. It’s VERY important to the City that Lakewood residents (who have been among the BEST recyclers in Dallas) continue to do so. Recycling is earning $3m in revenues this year — no way are we going to throw that away! Please call – or invite me to your next HOA meeting …let me earn back your trust.”
Here's the shot that upset some neighbors who understandably assumed their recycling was wrongly being sent to the landfill. From LNA's Facebook group page.
Sure, there appears to have been a distinct communication problem, but this is an impressive response that comes of little surprise if you know Nix and her assistant director of sanitation services Ron Smith — both of them take great pride in what the city is doing trash- and recycling- wise. We interviewed them extensively a while back for this story about the complex and fascinating inner workings of the aforementioned landfill and the plan to turn trash into renewable energy and, subsequently, revenue. (I promise — it is actually quite interesting. You should read it).
Even during the departments’ brief period of social-media scrutiny, LNA Facebook group members note that the city has put a ton of time and effort into the recycling program and would not likely “chuck it out the window.”
A final comment on the tread today declares the “mystery solved.”
