City scrambles to keep pace with recycling

More people, more stuff — more recycling.

As Sisters grows, so does the rate of recycling at the City of Sisters collection center at Ash Street and Washington Avenue. Last week, the catwalks alongside the recycling receptacle were piled with bags of materials someone left behind because the receptacle was too full to take one more can or bottle.

That’s not an unusual occurrence, according to Public Works Director Gary Frazee.

“We’re up to three times a week having that recycle box emptied,” he said.

Deschutes County is now hauling off Sisters’ receptacle on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

One local resident told The Nugget she was was outraged that someone left behind all those bags of materials, but since it was all bagged up, Frazee took it in stride.

“They just picked it up,” he said. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

What is a big deal, according to Frazee, is the amount of packing paper being shoved into the co-mingled bins in the receptacle.

“It’s coming in in pickup truck loads and it’s no good,” he said. “It’s garbage.”

It’s garbage that takes up a lot of space, making it difficult for people to recycle legitimate materials such as newspaper, glass and aluminum cans.

Frazee said he doesn’t know where all the packing material is coming from and noted that those dumping it at the recycling center may not know that the packing paper is non-recyclable.

Frazee acknowledged that heavier use of the facility and the lack of monitoring since the city moved its shops out to the site of the sewer plant have led to some deterioration at the site.

“There just seems to be more garbage, more litter on the ground, more contamination of the recycle products,” he said. “That thing is being used. It’s a busy spot.”

The city will eventually move the recycling center to the sewer plant site at the southern edge of town after the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District takes over the current site for its planned expansion.

However, Frazee noted, that move is still some time off.

It can’t happen soon enough for Steve Alleley, a long-time neighbor of the recycling center.

“It’s definitely getting worse,” he said. “There’s people there all hours of the night heaving glass... and there’s garbage blowing all over the neighborhood.”

Alleley said he’s seen people put dirty diapers in the newspaper bin and leave non-recyclable trash. The area is posted with daytime-only hours, but “the signs do absolutely no good,” Alleley said.

The neighbors are fed up with inconsiderate dumpers — and with waiting for the city to move the site.

“We’re sick to death of it,” Alleley said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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