The post-holiday cleanup overflowed at one Virginia Beach recycling center.
Mounds of holiday boxes and improper recycling practices caused the city to temporarily closed the site behind the Municipal Center on West Neck Road.
Recycling coordinator Kristi Rines said the line to recycle backed up into the street, and they were worried about the community’s safety.
A police officer was called to help with traffic flow.
“It was really bad,” said Rines.
Public Works crews cleaned the mess inside and around 18 recycle bins from Thursday evening to Friday morning.
The center reopened just before noon.
Tidewater Fiber Corporation crews usually empty all the bins, about eighteen-tons of recyclables, three times a week.
“It's probably a good problem to have because people are trying to do the right thing by recycling,” said Rines.
However, the issue with collecting materials comes down to recycling the correct way.
That means flattening cardboard boxes — and only recycling paper, bottles, and cans. Plus leaving out plastic and bags that are not recyclable.
“That's what the landfill is for us to take your trash,” said Rines.
If the material is outside the bin or contaminated, it's unusable.
To resident Larry Ewin, improper recycling in unacceptable.
"We will just have Mount Trashmore. We're going to have a new Mount Everest," he said.
His solution is to add trash compactors at the city’s four sites and recycling collections at apartments and condos.
His ideas and the importance of recycling are a message he wants to take to city officials.
“City Council we need you to step up to help the situation to correct what's going on, and to make the service available to the residence in the city of Virginia Beach,” said Ewin.
He believes recycling is more than just an important element in our economy and ecology, it's our city's livelihood.
“Nothing is better than to be able to go out on our wonderful bodies of water and enjoy it without seeing plastic bags, beer cans, and floating bottles," said Ewin.
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