HOLTS SUMMIT - Holts Summit city officials are tired of cleaning up other people's recycling messes.
"We consistently had the problem of the misuse of the recycling bins," City Administrator Hanna Lechner said Monday. "Things have just been thrown everywhere. Everyone just pulls their car up and throws it on the ground."
Adding security cameras and regularly sending personnel to check in didn't help.
The city on Monday announced its intention to end its recycling services.
The end was already nigh before the announcement: officials opted to leave recycling services out of the 2020 budget.
"We knew it was going to come to an end; we just didn't know how fast we were going to pull the trigger," Lechner said.
The latest box pile-up, even after the recycling company fit in an extra pick-up for the holiday season, proved the last straw.
Since 2006, the city has paid for recycling services to two bins (one purchased outright and one through a grant). At the end of 2019, the city was paying $2,100 a month for services. These services were intended exclusively for residents within the city limits, though the city didn't charge residents for recycling.
Lechner said misuse - from trying to recycle inappropriate items, to use by those living outside city limits, to failing to properly break down boxes - has been rampant for years.
"We may bring back recycling services in the future," she said. "What we're going to try and do is work with our trash company to do curbside recycling."
The recycling bins at 282 S. Greenway Drive will remain available for resident use until Jan. 31, when they'll be hauled away.