Recycling at Lenox Road Needs Some Tweaking

I took my bound newspapers and loose mixed paper to the Aberdeen Public Works facility today. It wasn't a pleasant experience. The container is very long, narrow, and closed on top, and the container was very full, so it was hard to dump my paper recyclables into it. First I hurled my bound newspapers in as far as I could toss them, but the loose papers in a large bin were another story. I ended up climbing into the container, venturing into the mounds of loose papers and dragging my bin with me. I checked my footing along the way and eventually emptied the bin about halfway back in the container. Walking through the loose papers caused something of an avalanche behind me, though, so when I exited the container there was a residual pile of loose papers on the ground. I ended up on my hands and knees picking up those papers to keep them from blowing away. Quite a workout, all in all.

While going back and forth to my car, I noticed that the bottles/cans container was also overflowing, so I didn't bother making a second trip with those recyclables. That container, which is open on the sides with little doors, had cans and bottles jutting out of each opening.

Who is in charge of tending these containers? Presumably the full time staff during the week should be seeing to it that they are emptied regularly or compacted. It wouldn't be so difficult for citizens to handle their recycling responsibilities if those containers were less full. I felt bad for the women approaching with recyclables as I left, wondering where they would put them.

It would be helpful if the paper container could be loaded from above instead of the end. Perhaps a platform could be constructed from which citizens could toss papers into the container from above, and a canopy erected that would keep the rain off the papers?

I was surprised to find that the Aberdeen Township recycling page, sponsored by the Township's Department of Public Works, makes no mention of the Lenox Road facility or its hours of operation related to the recycling program. The only reference to that service is contained in old (2008 and earlier) press releases I discovered through a Google search on the website. The Patch has been kind enough to post the activity on its calendar, but the Public Works Department should provide complete, fresh, and accurate public information about publicly available services like this.