Ashland to put recycling bins for residents outside the city for an annual $100

The City of Ashland Mayor Steve Gilmore said that the city would open recycling bins for residents outside Ashland for $100 per year, starting from January 1, 2019.

Ashland residents will be able to use the recycle bins beneath the two bridges to Ohio at no extra charge, as city residents already pay $22 per month for garbage fees. Residents in Ohio and West Virginia can participate in the change approved this week by the Ashland Board of City Commissioners.

The materials that will be accepted for recycling include plastic bottles and containers; white paper, notebook paper, newspapers, and phone books and; aluminium cans and empty aerosol cans. Any other materials placed in these bins will cause the dumpster to be contaminated and, in turn, must be disposed of as regular trash.

Gilmore said Boyd County residents outside Ashland had asked the city to come up with a fee that would allow them to recycle. City officials came up with the annual $100 fee, which will be prorated for those who would like to participate after January, he added.

Earlier, the city looked at doing curbside recycling for an extra $15 fee, but residents did not want to pay the extra costs, said Gilmore.

"We did a survey with the utility bills," he said. "The vast majority didn't want to pay it."

"It's a nationwide problem," Gilmore said of recycling costs. "No one makes money on recycling. It's a costly endeavor. While some people don't care about recycling, others do. We need to make it convenient for them. We're trying to do the right thing."

Several years ago, the city of Ashland had recycling bins along Oakview Road near Ashland Community and Technical College and at the Walmart. People used to leave TV sets, couches, and chairs. The city then moved the bins to downtown Ashland in a fenced in area beneath the two bridges.