So bring on the yogurt containers, the take-out trays, the margarine tubs. Philadelphia wants them all.
"There's a lot of joy out there in recycling-advocates land," said Maurice Sampson II, a longtime Philadelphia recycling advocate and past critic of the city's program.
The city's recycling rate - measured by weight rather than percentage of household participation - used to be among the lowest for large cities. In 2006, households recycled only about 5.5 percent of their waste.
That rate has risen to 16 percent as the city has added materials, moved to weekly collections, and switched to "single-stream" recycling, in which all items can be placed into one bin.
In 2009, the city hired RecycleBank, which operates a program that gives residents coupons and other rewards for recycling.
With the expansion, Streets Commissioner Clarena I.W. Tolson said she did not expect dramatic increases in tonnage, given that plastics are light. Plus, categories 3 to 7 amount to only 4 percent of the waste stream.
But the city also rebid its recycling contract, getting more favorable rates. It not only saves $68 a ton in landfill costs but also recoups $51.37 a ton for recyclables from Waste Management Inc., based in Houston.
The amount may change, based on a formula incorporating commodity rates. But for now, the monthly savings will likely exceed $400,000, Tolson said.
To handle the new material, Waste Management is building a $20 million facility on the 42-acre site of its transfer station near Cottman Avenue and I-95.
"Mr. Nutter has really come through on his promise," Sampson said. "Now it's up to the residents to know what to do and put it out there."
