Nearly all the blue bins have been emptied, and Chesapeake’s recycling fiasco is coming to an end
The nightmare known as Chesapeake’s recycling program is almost over.
For almost two months in some Chesapeake neighborhoods, residents waited and waited — and waited some more — for their blue recycling bins to be picked up. Now, nearly all of the blue bins have been emptied and their contents hauled away, thanks to the efforts of the city’s public works department, which went into overdrive to retrieve all the recyclables after cutting ties with its underperforming vendor.
Earl Sorey, head of public works for the city, said 25 drivers worked 10 hours on both Saturday and Monday, days that are not usually collection days. By 5 p.m. Thursday, the job should be complete, a city spokeswoman said.
“Our guys were up to the challenge,” Sorey said.
Jason Brown, customer service manager for public works, said the response from residents about the pickup has been overwhelmingly positive. People are glad to finally have their bins picked up, he said.
Chesapeake resident Kimberlee Russi, a stay-at-home mother, said she made the choice to bring her blue bin back to her house rather than let the city throw it out as trash. It’s been about six weeks since her last recycling collection. Her neighbors’ bins have been picked up as garbage. But she said she cares too much about recycling to just allow her materials to be collected as trash.
Instead, she had her children sort the recycling and pull out the glass, which the city does not accept at its new drop-off sites for recyclables. She has taken some of it to a drop-off site and plans to do that moving forward.
Noble Brigham, noble.brigham@virginiamedia.com
