JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — The recycling drop-off sites in Jefferson Parish could soon run more efficiently.
Officials wrapped up a meeting Wednesday afternoon to work on a way to move the line through faster.
That's after people complained of long waits over the weekend.
In mid-April, recycling drop-off points opened in Jefferson Parish on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the east and west banks. And just six weeks later, even on a holiday weekend, the cars stacked up. People were agitated that they had to wait so long.
“We were in that line for over an hour, and on a Saturday, that's kind of hard to be in line for over an hour,” said Jean Thomas of Metairie, who is an avid recycler.
The line snaked around and around the Yenni Building parking lot. It spilled out into the street and even went around the next corner.
In fact, 345 cars came through Saturday at the Yenni Building, all waiting for one of around five parking spots to drop off their recycling.
“And that's when I got out of my vehicle, and walked my recyclables to the bins, and they didn't like that, but I couldn't wait that long in line, wasting my time, gasoline, and energy,” said a man who recycles but did not want to be identified.
Councilwoman Jennifer Van Vrancken heard how crowded this pilot program had gotten. So, she called a meeting for Wednesday afternoon of the Jefferson Parish environmental, and traffic teams.
“Now that we know the popularity is there, and it is growing, now the conversation is, ‘OK, how do we do this more efficiently? How do we move people through faster? How do we give them alternates?’” Councilwoman-at-Large Jennifer Van Vrancken said.
“A person should be able to walk up, park, and unload themselves, but elderly people handicapped should be able to drive up,” said the man.
“We really miss the curbside recycling greatly, and we hope that the parish can bring it back,” said Thomas.
“In the next few months, we envision, is putting out a request where anyone who can respond as a recycler, who wants to do business with Jefferson, to stand up drop-off sites, but to bring back curbside recycling,” said Van Vrancken.
Future curbside might be optional for those who want to pay, but she says the goal is to know all the metal, cardboard, plastic, and glass are not only staying out of the landfill but are truly being reused.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.