M. Kate West
Chester Editor
12/30/2009

    When directors of the Chester Public Utility District voted to sign a new five-year contract with Waste Management of Nevada, they were also the first of three Plumas County entities to accept a change in community recycling procedures.
    Present at the meeting to talk about the recycling changes was Waste Management district manager Mike Clements.
    Familiar in style to the garbage bins utilized by the company, a larger blue single-container will take the place of the three crate-style bins currently issued by recycling customers.
    “Chester is the first community to go to the next level of green,” said Clements.
    He also said sorting recyclable items was no longer necessary, “Whether you are recycling aluminum cans, tin cans, glass or plastic bottles, all items can be mixed together in the new bin.”
    Clements said there were a number of reasons the company decided to make the change. Most reasons were specific to employee safety and health.
    “This bin is rolled to the truck and the equipment does the lifting, not the employee. It will save employees’ backs and help to avoid slips and falls,” he said.
    Another reason for the program change also deals with employee labor; the larger containers don’t have to be handled as often as the crate style bins.
    “Once the new containers are in place we will only pick up recycle materials on the first and third weeks of the month,” he added.
    The last reason, Clements said, was also about encouraging more members of the community to go green by becoming involved in the recycling program.
    Both CPUD general manager Bill Turner and Clements hope that because there is no sorting involved with the larger containers, more households will sign up for the program.
    Turner said in addition to going greener, the change in recycle storage style would resolve the environmental issue of materials being bumped or blown out of the smaller crates.
    “These new containers will keep our community cleaner,” he said.
    In Chester, there are 683 clients signed up for garbage service. In comparison, only 396 of those same clients are participating in the recycle program.
    “We will advertise first and then deliver the new recycle containers by mid-January,” said Clements.
    In addition to the change in the recycle pick-up schedule, Waste Management will also make a change to the recycle program cost. To offset the cost of the larger bins, recycle clients will pay an additional 60 cents a month through December 2010.