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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Recycling the Right Way: Iowans Urged to Keep 'Em Loose

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Monday, June 1, 2015   

DES MOINES, Iowa – Efforts to increase the amount of material that is recycled in Iowa are finding success.

But one common mistake is leading to a significant number of plastic bottles, cans and newspapers ending up at the landfill.

Leslie Irlbeck, program and outreach manager for the Metro Waste Authority, says when recyclables are put out, people need to keep them loose, but about 20 percent of the authority’s customers have them wrapped up in plastic bags.

"Which maybe doesn't sound like a big problem, but what happens is when those bags of recyclables go to the sorting facility, the staff on the line have no way of knowing if it's a bag of garbage or if it's a bag of recyclables and so that bag is actually pulled off the line and sent to the landfill," she explains.

So Irlbeck says people should toss those materials, loose, directly into the cart so that they will be recycled as intended.

Irlbeck also notes that while used plastic bags themselves are accepted at most grocery stores in Iowa, they are not recyclable curbside.

"And the reason is because the plastic bags actually get wrapped up in the equipment and that prevents the recyclables from being able to get sorted properly,” she explains. “And it's the separation of materials that keeps the contamination low and really keeps the program sustainable overall."

Statewide, more than 1.2 million tons of materials are recycled each year, with curbside services offered in more than 600 communities.




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