City to order thousands more recycling bins

Baltimore will order thousands more recycling bins and will make them available in three weeks, officials in Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration said yesterday.

Thousands of people stood in line for hours over the weekend to buy the recycling bins, which can be used for the city's new single-stream recycling program. The city quickly ran out of its 10,000-bin supply.

"This was actually a good thing," Dixon said yesterday. "It was a problem that was a good problem. I know some people were frustrated about the long lines, but what I heard is that because we're going to single-stream recycling, people have now decided to recycle."

Public works officials said residents do not need the bins to take part in the city's new recycling program, which will allow people to place plastics, paper and other recyclable material in the same bin for collection on the same day. The program begins Jan. 8.

Sanitation workers will continue to pick up recyclable material placed in any marked container or box - such as a cardboard box. Residents may also use paper bags or put out newspapers bound with string. Plastic bags will no longer be accepted.

John Fritze