Scott County has recycled even more material than expected this year thanks to a new, single-stream program.
In August, the Scott Area Recycling Center launched its 'Go All In' program, which allows residents to throw all their recyclables into one bin. Since then, staff members have seen a big increase in the number of pop cans, boxes and plastic bottles that come rolling in.
"In Davenport and Bettendorf, we have seen over the two cities a 65 percent increase in materials, so that's pretty big -- 65 percent more than we saw last year at this time," said Brandy Welvaert, communication coordinator for the Waste Commission of Scott County.
The increase in recycling is good news for the Scott Area Landfill in Buffalo, Iowa, too.
Thanks to the recycling changes, as well as several other waste updates, the landfill's projected lifespan has been extended by 20 years to 2083.
"We're always trying to extend the life of the landfill, because the truth is no one wants to build another landfill in our community," said Welvaert. "We want to do other things with the material instead. It just makes more sense to reuse things and recycle them than to bury them."
Even though the year isn't quite over yet, crews at the recycling center have already exceeded their goal for 2016 by processing 15,600 tons of material.
The center was projected to process 15,000 tons.