Starting in April, city of Lincoln will begin enforcing new ordinance with goal of recycling cardboard

Beginning on April 1st, clean and dry corrugated cardboard will no longer be accepted in the city landfill.

"Lincoln is the first community in Nebraska to take this step toward a more sustainable future," said Mayor Chris Beutler.

Mayor Beutler believes the city of Lincoln will benefit from this ordinance by conserving resources and promoting greater environmental stewardship in the community.

There is also an economic factor in play…

"Last year, we paid to bury 19,000 tons of cardboard. Cardboard is in such high demand by paper mills that over 2.3 million dollars could have been injected into the local economy," said Beutler.

Cardboard takes up close to 10 percent of garbage that collectors take to landfills, the largest single recyclable material deposited.

Today, city officials joined with local garbage collectors to help spread the word by placing stickers on every truck.

"There are many, many things that Lincoln is very good at. One of the things we would like to improve on is our recycling rate here in Lincoln. This was in planning for four years to generate a plan to help us do that," said Donna Garden, Assistant Director of Utilities for the city of Lincoln.

Lincoln citizens are encouraged to re-use cardboard, like boxes, whenever possible.

If you need to get rid of some, there are options…

"There are two places that can do it, they can call their collector. All of the collectors in Lincoln will offer recycling, and we encourage them to do that, they will pick it up right at the curb. The other way is we have 28 drop off sites that are free, and they can take it to those," said Garden.

Lincoln residents will not be ticketed by the city for failure to recycle, but residents should check with their garbage collectors to confirm whether they will be charged additional fees if cardboard is found in their trash after April 1st.

If you are looking for a link to the 28 recycle bin locations in the city, visit lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/solid-waste/recycle/dropoff-sites.htm or lincoln.ne.gov/city/pworks/solid-waste/recycle/ to answer any questions about the new city ordinance.