By Jessica Coates

jessica.coates@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY – Green bins with bright yellow lids.

According to Salisbury Public Services Director Tony Cinquemani, that’s what recycling containers will look like in the city beginning in early July.

After five years of partnering with Waste Pro — a waste disposal service based in Florida — Cinquemani said the city has decided to go with a different provider to meet recycling needs.

The new provider is Waste Management, a waste disposal service based in Texas that already provides service in other areas of Rowan County.

Cinquemani said that it is normal for cities to change recycling providers every three to five years. Waste Management was chosen because it offered the lowest bid for services, he said.

Recycling pick-up days will remain the same. Cinquemani said other services — such as backyard pickup — will also still be in place.

The same types of items will be collected. Residents will still be allowed to put glass, plastic and paper products in the same container, a process known as single-stream recycling.

“Single-stream recycling makes recycling easier than ever. This recycling process increases participation because it is a simple system,” Waste Management representative Stan Joseph said in a news release. “All recyclables are collected together so people don’t have to spend time separating.”

Cinquemani said the light blue Waste Pro bins will be collected on the last day that Waste Pro serves the city, sometime in late June or early July. Waste Management will then distribute its green-and-yellow bins as close to that time as possible.

In case the new bins are not distributed at the same time that  old bins are removed, Cinquemani asks that residents be patient.

“We would just like citizens to bear with us on the change,” Cinquemani said. “If there’s a problem, just give us a call.”

The Salisbury Public Services Department can be reached at 704-638-5260.

Contact reporter Jessica Coates at 704-797-4222.