A Humboldt woman took commissioners to task for not rescuing a volunteer recycling program.
When Diana Holmes moved to Kansas from California two years ago, she was surprised to discover recycling was not included as a city or county service.
Instead, an all-volunteer recycling program was offered by the Iola Rotary Club. When the club disbanded the service in late 2021, volunteers created Allen County Recycling, eventually located behind Pete’s convenience store on U.S. 54 on the east side of Iola. That program closed last week.
Holmes spoke to commissioners at their weekly meeting on Tuesday morning.
The recycling center was well-used, Holmes said, with cars often lined up to drop off cardboard, newspapers, plastic and glass.
“Do you ever go in there and see how much people were recycling?” Holmes asked commissioners.
“Every container was full, month after month. Do you not care that these things may all end up in the landfill again? It worked. We and lots and lots of people used it.”
Holmes said she has always recycled and does not want to throw her recyclables in the garbage, where it would be taken to the landfill. She also noted her daughter and son-in-law own a business that produces a lot of bottles and cardboard, and they also want to recycle. Now, they will be forced to choose between sending recyclable material to the landfill or transporting it themselves to a recycling center in another city, such as Lawrence or Kansas City.
“You can’t just keep kicking the landfill problem down the road. It’s not fair to dump this problem on future generations,” Holmes said.
She also criticized recent decisions by county and Iola leaders not to designate employee time for recycling. Allen County Recycling asked each entity to contribute one employee to work 20 hours a week to assist their efforts. County commissioners said they would do so if the city did. Council members did not agree and instead suggested alternatives such as using jail inmates.
The City of Iola picks up trash twice a week. Holmes suggested Iola should designate either one of those days for recycling pickup, a common refrain among local recycling enthusiasts.
She also criticized the county for recent efforts to contain trash, such as spending $82,700 for a portable fencing system to catch garbage that is blown by wind.
“When I see all the thousands of dollars you are spending on the landfill to mitigate the problem, it makes me angry you are thinking short term and not long term,” she said.
“Without the recycling center, you are going to have a lot more problems to mitigate at the landfill. It is your job to find solutions. Please find a way to keep the recycle center open.”
PAUL ZIRJACKS, a citizen who regularly attends commission meetings, also spoke in support of recycling efforts.
