Every Ames household may need curbside recycling to go alongside its regular trash pickup.
The Ames City Council discussed the possibility at its Tuesday meeting.
Ames is building a new facility called the Resource Recovery and Recycling Campus that will open in 2027. The new center will be a major change in how the city handles garbage and recycling. The center will handle trash, recyclables and yard waste all in one place.
Right now, Ames burns most of its trash to make electricity at the Resource Recovery Plant, but the city wants to move away from burning trash and focus more on recycling. The state charges cities fees based on how much trash goes to landfills, so the more recycling Ames does, the less money it has to pay.
Most Ames residents already support recycling programs. In 2023, more than 80% of people who took a city survey said they wanted some type of recycling service. The same number said they would be willing to separate glass, metal and plastic from their regular garbage.
The new recycling center will let people drop off separated materials for free, similar to what the city already offers at the current plant.
City workers are still figuring out the details of how curbside recycling would work. For example, how often would trucks pick up recycling? What kind of containers would people use? And who would pay for the service? They also need to figure out how apartment buildings would handle recycling.
City staffers told the council they are not asking for any decisions yet. Instead, they wanted to start the conversation and get the council thinking about the issues. Staff members will come back in September or October with more information and ask the council to make final choices about the recycling program.
The city would only require homes to use a new curbside recycling program. Businesses and factories have different needs, so they would arrange their own recycling services or bring materials directly to the new center.
In other business, the council:
- Approved the second lowest bid of $1.2 million based on recommendations from the city’s staff and a consultant to award a contract to Petrotech, Inc. of New Orleans, for upgrades to combustion turbine controls
- Voted to allow the Maple Grove Mobile Home Park, 6100 West Lincoln Way, and other nearby properties, to connect to the city’s sanitary sewer system without annexation
- Awarded a contract to Sargent & Lundy LLC, Chicago, for engineering services for new electric generating equipment in the municipal power plant in an amount not to exceed $6.9 million, and
- Directed city staff to have architects design plans for a new fire station to be located on land now owned by Iowa State University on the west side of State Avenue. The project would relocate the existing station at 132 Welch Ave. The new station will be designed as a net-zero ready building to maximize energy efficiency capabilities. The university would need to approve a long-term lease to allow construction of the 14,810 square foot fire station at a cost of $9.1 million plus other related costs. The current station’s size is 7,340 square feet.
