Sorting trash for recycling still is a rarity. The green recycling bins can be found all-around, on public placed and in private backyards. All garbage items put into the gray garbage carts will end up in landfills. Throwing away recyclable items into ordinary garbage bins means throwing away valuable resources and future products. Those items include for example plastic bottles, aluminum cans and reams of paper. Yet, the general awareness does not grow. Are we having full recycling centers for vacancy? There are also many jobs depending on the existence of the recycling system.

Several parties are of the opinion that government regulations should not tell the population what to do with their garbage. Other residents propose to impose a fine on putting banned items in the garbage roll-outs. However, such a county ordinance would require the approval by the municipalities. There have been several public forums in Mecklenburg to gather feedback on this issue. The majority of the residents were very supportive as far as the issue of recycling was concerned. However, the solid waste management director Bruce Gledhill acknowledged that he is very limited in imposing penalties. Let’s hope the general awareness of recycling will grow itself instead of upcoming penalties forcing people to do what they should anyways.

Author: Anja Rettig Legal Intern BridgehouseLaw Charlotte

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