County Starts Delivery of Recycle Trash Carts

The Saint Louis County Department of Health has begun delivering 64- and 35-gallon recycling carts to all one- and two-family residences throughout unincorporated Saint Louis County as part of their ongoing efforts to increase the number of county residents who recycle.

Saint Louis County currently has a waste diversion rate of only 30% (70% of all waste is put into landfills). The county has set a waste diversion rate goal of 50% by the year 2010. It is hoped that the delivery of these new recycling carts will encourage residents to increase the amount of waste they recycle.

The delivery of the recycling carts started in Waste Collection District #3 (see map at http://www.stlouisco.com/trashrecycle/districtmap.pdf). Once deliveries in District #3 have been completed, the department will then deliver carts to the other seven (7) districts in the following order: #2, #1, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #4. It is expected that all deliveries will be completed by mid-April (an estimated schedule of deliveries is below:

Waste Collection District Tentative Delivery Dates

District 3
February 6th – February 13th

District 2
February 14th – February 20th

District 1
February 21st – February 28th

District 5
February 29th – March 8th

District 6
March 10th – March 15th

District 7
March 17th – March 25th

District 8
March 26th – April 1st

District 4
April 2nd – April 10th

All recycling carts come with a “Get Rolling” booklet that explains why residents have received the cart, what the guidelines are for using the cart, and what to do if they decide they don’t want to keep the cart. Residents will have the option of replacing the larger 64-gallon cart with a smaller 35-gallon one or simply having the cart picked back up and taken away.

Recycling is voluntary in Saint Louis County – although county residents are strongly urged to recycle, they are not required to do so. Regardless if you recycle or not, you will be billed for the service.