(by Meg Fencil of Sustain Charlotte, via a Special to the Observer)

Charlotte’s City Council and Solid Waste Services are discussing whether to eliminate municipal trash and recycling service to apartment complexes. This is a step in the wrong direction because it would result in fewer Charlotteans being able to recycle at home and would move the city further from its own stated goal of diverting waste from the landfill. The ability to recycle at home should be a right, not a privilege.

The 2013 Multi-family, Small Business, and Rate Structure Review report commissioned by the city shows that it’s not the norm for cities across the nation to provide recycling service to apartment complexes. But Charlotte lacks the incentives or, in some cases, requirements to recycle that some of the peer cities evaluated in the consultant’s report have.