The city council of Portage, Michigan, in the southwestern part of the state, has approved a switch to single-stream curbside collection starting in October 2015.
According to a report on www.Mlive.com, residents in the city of 45,000 near Kalamazoo will receive larger containers that will be collected every other week.
The switch to single-stream collection and processing was recommended by the Portage Environmental Board and approved unanimously by the city council in late May.
Best Way Disposal, Kalamazoo, will carry out the collection contract. Phoenix-based Republic Services Inc. also bid on the collection contract.
The existing program, according the Mlive report, has been a dual-stream collection program that dates back to the 1990s. Voters in Portage approved a 0.5-mill levy for curbside recycling in the 1990s, although so far the city has not yet had to tax at the full levy amount.
City officials have been assured an informational program for residents will begin in advance of the change to single stream collection as well as accompanying it. Advocates say the single-stream collection method will save the city up to $440,000 over the course of its 10-year contract.