BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore has contracted WIN Waste Innovations to staff and operate eight recycling collection centers, with the Department of Public Works remaining on a bi-weekly collection schedule, officials said Monday.
Starting Tuesday, the company will staff the centers Tuesday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop-off locations will serve communities on weeks when their recycling is not scheduled to be picked up.
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This means that on “A weeks,” when DPW crews collect recycling in neighborhoods north of North Avenue, centers will be open in Southeast and Southwest Baltimore. On “B weeks,” when recycling is picked up in southern neighborhoods, centers will be open above North Avenue.
Every two weeks ♻ Collections start TODAY, Tuesday January 18th. This is week A, serving the NE and NW neighborhoods north of North Avenue. Your recycling collection day has NOT changed: same day, alternating weeks. Learn more about bi-weekly recycling collections: https://t.co/ZGGRbaHfWd pic.twitter.com/ut0gMM598l
— BaltimoreDPW (@BaltimoreDPW) January 18, 2022
The first “B week” begins on Tuesday.
The following locations are open on “B weeks”:
- Hamilton Elementary School, 6101 Old Harford Road (the rear parking lot, accessible via Christopher Avenue or Sylvan Avenue)
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, 3750 Greenspring Ave. (cul-de-sac in front of the building)
- William S. Baer School, 2001 N. Warwick Ave. (car park in front of the school)
- Mergenthaler High School (“Mervo”), 3500 Hillen Road (the rear parking lot, accessible via the 3500 block of Tivoly Avenue)
The following locations are open on “A weeks”:
- DPW Property Management Facility, 115 S. Kresson St.
- DPW Marine Operations Facility, 3311 Eastbourne Ave. (front of the building)
- Westside Competence Center, 4501 Edmondson Avenue (parking accessible via Athol Avenue)
- Digital Port Secondary School, 1100 Covington St. (parking lot next to school, accessible via Covington Street)
DPW also operates drop-off points from Monday to Saturday:
- Northwest Transfer Station, 5030 Reisterstown Road
- Quarantine Path Dump, 6100 quarantine road
- Northwest Residential Depot Center, 2840 Sisson St.
- Southwest Residential Depot Center, 701 Reedbird Ave.
- Eastern Residential Depot Center, 6101 Bowleys Lane
DPW has moved to the new recycling collection schedule after weeks of service disruptions due to an increase in COVID-19 cases among staff.
“This move to bi-weekly recycling collections will help the Department manage for the long term. These changes are critical to stabilizing operations and ensuring consistent, predictable and sustainable services for residents,” said Director Jason W. Mitchell.
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In a statement, Mayor Brandon Scott said Monday the city is trying to maintain its sustainable practices in the face of staffing shortages.
“We are leveraging all available resources, including our private sector partners, to ensure we provide Baltimore residents with essential public services and promote responsible waste management policies,” he said.
WIN Waste Innovations, formerly known as Wheelabrator Technologies, operates the BRESCO incinerator in south Baltimore, which is the subject of protests from residents who say pollution from the facility is causing environmental issues. health.
The Baltimore City Council passed a bill, signed into law by then-Mayor Catherine Pugh, that would have implemented tougher pollution standards on two city incinerators. The company filed a lawsuit in April 2019, claiming the law, known as the Baltimore Clean Air Act, is illegal and conflicts with existing state and federal requirements.
In September 2020, Wheelabrator stepped in to help collect recycling in the city, also disrupted by the pandemic.
Two months later, then-Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young agreed to a new contract with Wheelabrator.
After speaking out against the incinerator in the 2020 primary election, Scott, then city council president, noted the incinerator would likely continue to burn other customers’ waste even if the city transported its waste elsewhere.
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“Our city has never fully invested in the infrastructure and education necessary for a successful transition to zero waste,” Scott said in a Twitter thread. “85% of the inhabitants of our city do not recycle regularly. We have a lot of work to do and there is no quick fix.