Bloomington continues to make it easy for residents to recycle. (Photo courtesy of cityblm.org)

By Sarah Beckman

BLOOMINGTON - The Bloomington recycling program continues to be well-received by residents. In December of last year, the city collected more than 400 tons of recycling.

"People in this community care about doing the right thing," said Jim Karch, Director of Public Works for Bloomington. "Obviously just by the numbers people care about the environment in this community and in the surrounding area."

Karch also attributed the single-stream program for December's high numbers.

"This is a really great improvement for us," said Karch. "Citizens have really stepped up, and it's all thanks to this single-stream program."

Even with the high numbers, Bloomington is looking to improve its recycling program by adding a carted garbage system.

"We're still working with the City Council on specific items with that," said Karch. "It's going to be a really big program to roll out to the citizens."

The new system will be implemented this fall, and Karch said he expects it to go over well.

"The response continues to be very positive," said Karch. "But it can be a challenge rolling out a new program."

Residents interested in the recycling cart delivery process can visit recyclecart@cityblm.org.