BRISTOL, Conn. -- Residents of one Connecticut city may soon have their trash randomly sifted through by town workers.

Bristol officials said the city is getting serious about recycling and that it plans to check what residents are putting in trash cans before dumping it into the truck.

Video: Trash Cans Subject To Random Inspections

Workers from the city's Department of Public Works will soon begin randomly sifting through residents' garbage and writing citations to those who put recyclables in the trash.

"I'm not here to be anybody's pain," said David Oakes, the DPW's solid waste and recycling operations analyst. "I'm here to help, and my ultimate goal is to save taxpayers money, not to give them grief."

The city has reported a recent decrease in recyclables. It costs the city about half as much to dispose of recyclables than it does garbage, the DPW said.

If a resident continues to put recyclable items in the trash can and not the recycling bin, city officials said they will be issued fines.

"I'll go out there (and) if there's a notice of non-recycling, I'll go out there and look in the barrel," Oakes said. "It's not a glamorous job but somebody's got to do it, and I don't mind."

City officials said recyclable items should go into recycling bins, including:

• Cardboard
• Office paper
• Newspaper and magazines
• Catalogs
• Plastic No. 1 or No. 2 food and beverage containers
• Paper milk/juice cartons

"As of today, it's a $92 fine per occurrence," Oakes said. "So, if you have a deep pocket, I can keep coming every other week, but I'd much rather come out and educate and get that person on board. It's much easier to get what you want with honey than with vinegar."

More Information

Link: Bristol Resource Recovery Facility

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