Shivering in a frosty wind and surrounded by bureaucrats and elected officials gathered on their front lawn, Frank and Priscilla Burton became the first people Friday to sign up for Salt Lake City's curbside recycling program.
The first collections won't begin until April 1, but by then city officials hope to have thousands of people signed up for the long-promised program.The Burtons were picked as the ceremonial first family because they live next door to a city official. But Frank said he and his wife have been waiting for the city to make recycling easier.
"We've been recycling on some level for 10 years now," he said. "This will make it much more convenient for us."
City officials hope many more city residents feel likewise.
Mayor Deedee Corradini originally announced last summer she hoped to have the program in place by September. But it took longer than expected to work out details of the program, which will be run through a contract with Utah Recycling, a private company.
The program will be voluntary. Corradini said it won't cost taxpayers. Instead, people who sign up will pay a startup fee of $5.97 ($6.97 if they join after Feb. 15) and monthly fees ranging from $3.70 to $4.70, depending on how many sign up.
Those fees are designed to cover all the costs, including the price of individual bins at homes and large permanent bins at various schools for people who don't pay for the service.
Newspapers, aluminum cans, tin cans, magazines, phone books, plastic-coated drink containers, milk jugs, plastic bottles and scrap metal (no iron) will be collected. Glass will not. Corradini said the recycling company has no market for glass.
Corradini said she plans to involve community councils and a group of elementary-school children known as Kids Organized to Protect the Environment to spread applications for the service.
Anyone interested in signing up should call 972-2872.