(LEWES, Del.) - The city of Lewes is taking over recycling collections for residents.
The new move went into effect Monday, Oct. 16, and comes as an effort to improve services, according city officials. Homeowners can now expect to have their recycling picked up alongside their trash.
Officials from the Delaware State Waste Authority held a meeting with residents to answer questions about the changes and what is and isn't acceptable recycling material.
Some residents asked whether or not plastic bags are acceptable recyclables.
"[The] number one rule for recycling, no plastic bags," said the DWSA official hosting the meeting. "No plastic bags holding your recycling, no plastic bags stuffed into the recycling bin."
For many, the meeting was helpful and some say the quality of service may even improve.
"If anything it may be better because the local guys do a real good job of trash collections, so I think they'll do every bit as well with recycling," said Brenda Brady.
But not all residents at the meeting were convinced recycling will improve in the city.
"In the past, we were used to putting everything in. Actually my biggest problem is going to be - there's a lot of people that rent," said Lewes resident Dottie Foster. "This is a tourist town. How are we going to educate the renters?"
Foster said taking the extra time to sort even more will be inconvenient.
"Lewes has a lot of older people, so it's not going to be that convenient to go jump in the car. It's going to be a little more time consuming," said Foster.
The DWSA says recycle bins should not include plastic bags, batteries, electronics and certain types of paper.