recycling

Lakeshore Public Media host Dee Dotson speaks to Ellen Kapitan with the Recycling and Waste Reduction District of Porter County.

A former Portage mayor worries that ending curbside recycling pickup could pose challenges for those who may be unable to take items to recycling centers themselves. Portage ended curbside pickup in February because those items weren't actually being recycled, due to the amount of trash placed in the toters. Hobart followed suit this week.

The city of Hobart is the latest Region community to end curbside recycling pickup, since those items weren't actually being recycled. In a press release, the city said items placed in recycling toters were being sent to the landfill, since the amount of trash in them left the loads unsuitable for processing.

Recycling will continue in Ogden Dunes. The town's residents were accidentally included in Portage's notice about the end of curbside recycling pickup in that community, according to Ogden Dunes Town Council President Scott Kingan. The town says it continues to use Republic Services for waste management, and the changes in Portage don't impact Ogden Dunes.

Portage residents who still want to recycle can take items to the U.S. 12 compost site or the Portage Street Department during business hours.

Portage may soon be ending curbside recycling pickup. Due to the amount of trash being put in recycling toters, the city's contractor put the recycling program on suspension in 2021. That means nothing going in the recycling toters is actually being recycled, according to a Facebook post last week from Mayor Austin Bonta.

Valparaiso residents will see a jump in their trash pickup rate. The city council voted six-to-one Monday to raise the monthly rate from $12 to $19.50, starting with bills due in November. It's the first increase to that rate in 10 years.

Valparaiso residents would pay more for less service, under the city's proposed trash rate increase. Valparaiso City Services is asking the city council to raise the rate from 12 dollars to $19.50 a month, starting this fall.

The state wants to know where recycling could use a boost in Indiana. The Department of Environmental Management plans to conduct a statewide recycling…

Today: This Reporters' Roundtable program includes Doug Ross from the "Times of Northwest Indiana," Carole Carlson of the "Post-Tribune" and Andy Ober,…