KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The city of Kalamazoo continues to make slow progress toward reaching their goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050. One way to do that will require installing surveillance cameras to go through your trash.
Sustainability director Justin Gish reported emission reductions of just a few percentage points to commissioners in 2024.
He says they continue to expand efforts to improve those numbers.
Solid waste coordinator Chris Broadbent says too many people aren’t following the rules limiting what can go into recycling bins and they have installed a camera on the garbage truck to identify those who contaminate their recyclables.
Mayor Dave Anderson says he was familiar with the program because at his place of work, they get a higher bill if their recycling bin is contaminated.
15% of the bins are being rejected. Broadbent says the biggest problem is when people put their recyclable materials into plastic bags, and then put the bags in the bin, and the bags can’t be recycled.
There were also discussions on whether they should increase recycling pick-ups from bi-weekly to weekly, to handle the increased volume of corrugated boxes, because more people are shopping online. No decisions were made on that idea.
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