WINSTON-SALEM -- Winston-Salem has some 76,000 recycling carts in use, that are picked up every other week.
"My wife and I try to be very careful about what we put in these bins, we really do," said Tom Brandon, who lives near Thruway Shopping Center.
Annually, the city recycles about 14,000 tons of bottles, cans and paper. It's packaged and sold, bringing in $350,000 last year.
But trash is causing problems.
"It can cause equipment to seize up, but it also diminishes the quality of the commodity, which in turn would reduce the value the city would receive back,’’ said Johnnie Taylor, the city’s Sanitation Director.
It also cost an additional $50,000 to dispose of last year.
While things like dead animals, car tires and carpeting have been found in carts, the biggest issues are caused by those disposable plastic grocery bags. Sorters usually pull out between 500 and 1,000 pounds of them a day.
"Plastic bags, from our standpoint, are a contaminant. When we try and sell newspapers to a paper mill, they don't want the plastic bags in the mix," said Terry Feeney with Waste Management, who operates the facility.
If collectors keep finding trash in a home’s recycling bin, they're going to leave notes outlining what can be recycled.
After the third offense, the city will take away the recycling bin.
"Not permanently,’’ said Taylor. "But with the hopes of educating them and getting them back in the program."
The intent is also to improve the quality of the raw materials that are being recycled and sold.
"Every little bit we get has the effect of reducing the costs of the program, as well as the environmental benefits,’’ said Taylor.
It's something that residents appreciate.
"I've noticed, personally that using these things cuts back on the actual amount of garbage that goes into the regular garbage program," said Brandon.