HAMPTON, Va. - The slogan "recycle right" is something the City of Hampton wants its residents to remember —and for a good reason.
C'Faison Harris, the coordinator for the Clean City Commission, said recycling properly can save you money.
"Good things that are being recycled get mixed in with the things we can't recycle," Harris.
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She said that leads to more manpower, to pick through what's trash and what's not, which translates to higher sanitation fees and local taxes.
“It may seem like pennies to some, but over time it adds up and it adds up greatly,” said Harris.
Recently some Hampton residents got to tour TFC Recycling in Chesapeake, a facility the City of Hampton uses, to get a behind-the-scenes look of the massive operation.
Ben Stackhouse attended.
“You see people filling up landfills all the time, I figure anything we can do to not fill up landfills is probably a good idea," said Stackhouse.
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So what's the rule of thumb for recycling?
"To recycle right means taking in general your paper, bottles, and cans and putting them into the recycling container," said TFC Recycling owner Michael Benedetto. "Those are the list of acceptable items that we take.”
Some things not on that approved list includes plastic bags, electronic waste, and yard waste.
