Keri Marrs Barron, executive director with Porter county Recycling and Waste Reduction, rolls a portable humidifier, ineligible for recycling or regular disposal because it contains freon, away from dumpsters at a recycling drop-off site in Chesterton on Monday, November 1, 2021. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

Keri Marrs Barron picked up a dehumidifier, a plastic foam bucket and a plant container among other nonrecyclable items dumped outside the nine large recycle bins placed in the Strack & Van Til’s grocery store parking lot in Chesterton.

What the executive director of the Recycling & Waste Reduction District of Porter County, the Hobart Public Works Department and other recyclable handlers are finding inside drop-off and curbside recycle bins is just as bad, to the point it’s causing major disruptions at the sorting end and increased costs in contamination fees, wages and fuel for the county and communities.

“Contamination has been a real problem, but there’s been an increase this year,” said Erika Mihalek, a spokeswoman for the Porter County agency.

Keri Marrs Barron, executive director with Porter county Recycling and Waste Reduction, takes a picture of an address label on a cardboard box left to the side of a dumpster at a recycling drop-off site in Chesterton on Monday, November 1, 2021. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

“Almost half the items in the bins are either soiled or nonrecyclable,” Hobart Public Works director Kelly Smith said at a recent City Council meeting.

It’s gotten so bad, in fact, that some communities and agencies are taking proactive action — from making offenders clean the trash out of their own bins to taking the bins away from repeat offenders altogether to sticking them with possibly hefty fines.

The National Waste & Recycling Association estimated that nearly 1 in 4 items placed in recycle bins aren’t actually recyclable through curbside programs.

“Plastic grocery bags are the No. 1 contaminant. They need to be taken back to a grocery store that accepts them,” said Doug Rosenbaum, general manager of Republic Services waste and recyclable haulers at the recent Hobart City Council meeting.

Keri Marrs Barron, executive director with Porter county Recycling and Waste Reduction, and utilityman Don Groth look over an improperly disposed of box of audio cables at a recycling drop-off site in Chesterton on Monday, November 1, 2021. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

Marrs Barron said the plastic bags get entwined in the machinery used to sort recyclable products.

“Homewood Disposal has a video showing twice in one eight-hour shift the machine had to be stopped while workers pulled out all the entwined bags,” Marrs Barron said.

Other noncompliant items left in drop-off bins include soiled paper plates, trash, napkins and plastic cutlery.

The only items that should be placed in recycle bins, Marrs Barron said, are aluminum, tin and metal cans; plastic bottles, tubs and jugs; glass bottles and jars; milk, juice, broth and other cartons; newspapers, catalogs, phone books and paper bags; office paper, file folders and envelopes; paperboard boxes, cereal, tissue and frozen food boxes; flattened cardboard boxes; and junk mail, glossy paper and magazines.

Don Groth, utilityman with Porter County Recycling and Waste Reduction, disposes of a cardboard box at a recycling drop-off site in Chesterton on Monday, November 1, 2021. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

They should be empty clean and lightly rinsed.

“Bottles, tubs and jugs — if it fits that shape and it has the 1-7 symbol on it, it can go in the recycling bin,” Marrs Barron said.

Smith said plastic grocery bags are the No. 1 problem in Hobart as well, followed by food waste and plastic foam, large plastic toys, garden hoses and plastic ware.

She showed samples of items pulled out of some recycle containers, which included clothing, a CD, soiled pizza box, a dog bed and yard waste.

“We need to get back on track and recycle right,” Smith said.

She said the city’s recycling is no longer free as it was in the past due to the added costs.

Chesterton resident John Hutson disposes of a cardboard moving box at a recycling drop-off site in Chesterton on Monday, November 1, 2021. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune) (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

To combat the problem, Smith said the city would start recycling weekly instead of every other week in hopes of getting a better grasp on the problem.

The city also will tag cans left at the curb that contain contaminants, informing the resident which items are unacceptable. The containers will be left on-site for the resident to make the corrections.

She said a second violation could result in the loss of a recycle container.

In Porter County, Marrs Barron said the first offense is about educating the offender on the local do’s and dont’s of recycling. Repeat violators can face fines of up to $1,000.

She said some of the items placed in the drop-off and curbside bins are recyclable; they just can’t be placed in those bins.

She said, for instance, the dehumidifier would be taken to Metro Recycling to have the Freon extracted.

“There are a variety of places to dispose of everyday items such as batteries and electronics,” Mihalek said.

Another problem the Porter County agency has is people dumping items — recyclable or not — outside the bins at its six drop-off locations within the county.

Marrs Barron and an assistant, Don Groff, go to the sites to clean up.

“We’re tenants of Strack & Van Til. We want to be good tenants,” Marrs Barron said.

They’ll never know who some of the offenders leaving the junk are. Groff said they usually come at night.

Not everyone who uses the drop-off service are causing problems.

John Hutson, for instance, just moved back to the area and was loading a trunkload of clean, folded moving boxes into one of the bins as Marrs Barron, Mihalek and Groff watched.

“I can’t believe how awesome this place is. The services are incredible,” Hutson said. “We’re moving back and we have boxes everywhere. This is an easy place to take them instead of curbside.”

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.