STARKVILLE — Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty has led the charge to bring back some semblance of a recycling program to the city, helping introduce drop-off bins for certain recyclables at the Sanitation Department headquarters in spring 2021.

Now he says it’s time for the city to get serious about bringing back curbside recycling.

“I feel like we need to be looking for a way to do curbside recycling instead of looking for a way not to do it,” Beatty told fellow aldermen at their meeting Tuesday in City Hall.

While his call to action found less exuberant support among other board members, it struck the same note as a presentation from a Mississippi State University student group earlier in the evening.

Students for a Sustainable Campus, led by president Emma Van Epps, laid out three “demands” to the city during the meeting: bringing back curbside recycling, establishing an award program for environmentally sustainable businesses complete with tax incentives and boning up its code enforcement efforts to reduce blight.

Epps, who noted the group completed its fourth annual climate march Oct. 22, said the limited hours for the city’s current Think Green initiative for recycling — which offers dropoff of certain materials from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. the first Saturday of each month — excludes participation from many citizens who would also recycle if given the chance.

Epps said her organization “demanded” the city use the 100-plus recycling bins it already has and introduce an opt-in curbside service where citizens who want it pay a special fee to receive it.

“We’re also the only SEC town without curbside recycling according to all their municipal websites,” Epps said. “So I think to keep ourselves competitive … as we are becoming so much more of a sports tourism city, that would be very good in terms of advertising our city.”

The program would come with a component that would educate citizens on what was OK to recycle.

“There’s always the question of contamination rates,” she said. “That’s always a big obstacle for recycling programs. … Having this program be opt-in would decrease starting costs and also kind of naturally select for people who will already not be contaminating their recycling.”

While Beatty has said he would support a mandatory curbside recycling program, where all citizens pay the fee on their sanitation bill whether they use the service or not, he also is proposing an opt-in program at least to start. An opt-in program would come with a higher fee.

He did not have any data Tuesday on costs or feasibility but asked aldermen for help obtaining that information before the board’s Nov. 15 meeting.

“Something that’s even once a month or twice a month,” Beatty said. “Just something that would give our citizens an opportunity to pay for and have curbside recycling. It’s just a logical progression for a city that’s doing a lot of first-class things.”

Starkville had free curbside recycling for citizens starting in 2009, which was supported by a grant. Once the grant dried up, the cost of keeping up the curbside program became untenable, leading to its suspension in March 2020.

A private company tried to charge fees, ranging from $12 to $20 per month, to curbside pickup after that but has since shuttered.

Ward 2 Alderwoman Sandra Sistrunk said Tuesday she is not opposed to bringing back curbside if it can be proven feasible. But she suggested making that determination as part of a comprehensive study of the entire sanitation department.

She suggested Beatty also look into what it would cost for the city to contract with a private company for curbside service rather than tax sanitation with the labor.

Sistrunk also questioned whether the curbside service should replace the drop-off program. Beatty is adamant the city have both.

Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.

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