Republic Services will officially take over recycling pickup in Kent next week.
The Portage County Solid Waste Management District will make its last scheduled Kent rounds this week and pick up residents’ recycling bins immediately after emptying them. Republic Services, which already provides trash collection to Kent, will begin dispersing its recycling totes this week and assures residents that its collection days will remain the same.
Republic asks all residents to have their materials at the curb by 7 a.m. on their scheduled collection day. Extra recycling and trash items not placed in bins should be bundled or tied and should not weigh more than 45 pounds. If cardboard is placed outside the bins, it must be flattened and tied with string, not tape. Boxes should not be placed inside other boxes.
Residents should take care to place only the following items in their Republic recycling bins:
- Paper, newspaper, phone books, cartons, cereal boxes and flattened cardboard
- Aluminum, tin or steel cans; foil and pie tins
- Milk and juice cartons; aseptic containers
- Plastic bottles and containers
- Glass bottles and jars
All items must be empty, clean and dry.
All mattresses, box springs and padded furniture must be wrapped in plastic sheeting and sealed with tape. No liquids, pesticides, construction material, dirt, rocks, gravel, sand, shrubs or limbs more than four feet long will be collected.
Republic does not accept the following items for recycling:
- Food waste
- Yard waste
- Ceramics or dishes
- Plastic grocery bags
- Motor oil containers
- Electronics
- Clothing
- Polystyrene foam
- Light bulbs
- Window glass or mirrors
- Hazardous waste containers
- Construction waste
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.