Curbside Recycling: Coming Soon to Shreveport, Louisiana

My husband and I both grew up in small towns that were suburbs of large cities, where they offered curbside recycling for as long as we can remember. I moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, eight years ago and was very disappointed that curbside recycling was unavailable. I was very pleased to learn earlier this year that curbside recycling pickup service is coming to Shreveport this fall!

We first lived in a small apartment here and had no place to collect or store recyclable materials. After we moved into our house, we started collecting recyclable materials and we would drop them off once every few weeks. It is amazing to see the bins fill up. It is also very scary to think of all the recyclables we threw away when we lived in the apartment, not to mention all of the households in Shreveport that do not recycle. That is a lot of recyclable materials are being thrown away and piling up in our local trash dump.

According to Shreveport Green, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving Shreveport's environment, this is due to the fact that the world's largest paper and packaging company, Pratt Industries, is moving into the port of Shreveport. Citizens will put their recyclable materials into a recycling bin provided by the city and place the bins out for pickup on regular trash pickup days. Pratt will sort through the materials, send the paper to their paper mill and sell the rest. According to the Shreveport Times, Pratt will be taking paper, plastic, glass and metals.

Until the curbside recycling in Shreveport takes effect in the fall, you can still collect recyclable materials and carry them to the local recycling place, Shreveport Regional Allied Waste Recycling Center on St. Vincent Avenue. This is what we have been doing in our household for several years. This recycling center is limited in what they accept, but they do take paper, boxes, cans and plastics 1& 2. Certain items will earn you money when you turn them in.

Citizens are expected to receive their blue recycle bins in late summer. The city is planning on starting slowly by doing certain sections of the city first and the gradually adding section until all city residents have curbside recycling pickup service. The service will be free for a few years, but they expect to charge $2.50 per month for the service starting in 2011. Shreveport will be the fourth out of the ten largest cities in Louisiana to offer curbside recycling.

I am so happy that Shreveport is finally becoming environmentally responsible! It's about time!