Vidalia — Vidalia Street Department crews distributed blue 35-gallon recycling containers to the approximately 200 residences that had signed up to participate in the city’s recycling pilot program.

Vidalia Alderman Ricky Knapp said pickup for the first round of recycling will be next Wednesday, and residences should place the bins by the curb just like they would for garbage collection on Tuesday night.

Concordia Metal will receive the recycling after the Vidalia Street Department picks it up every week.

“The good thing about this program is that it is single-stream recycling, so the public does not have to sort it all, they just put it in one container, and the sorting will be done at the facility,” Knapp said.

The only request is that recyclable containers be washed out before being placed in the recycling bin.

“Please don’t put a half-full milk jug in there,” Knapp said.

Jim Smith with Concordia Metal said the company is excited to see recycling expanding in the area — a similar program launched in Natchez in July — and he hopes more people join in as they see the program moving forward.

Knapp, likewise, said he hopes the recycling bins will serve as blue beacons to attract more participants.

Participation comes at no cost to residents, he said. The city has 500 bins available for the initial program.

“Our No. 1 objective was to help the environment, but we also anticipate to lower the tonnage tipping fee at the landfill by diverting a lot of that material to the recycling,” Knapp said.

“There’s also a benefit that where we haul it to the collection facility, the mileage is going to save us compared to if we had hauled it to the landfill. There’s considerable savings there.”

Concordia Metal asks that recyclables not be bagged, but instead be placed in the container loose.

Items that can be recycled include No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, a designation that can usually be found on the bottom of a container and includes beverage bottles, condiment containers, shampoo bottles and clear and white milk jugs.

Paper and cardboard that can be recycled includes magazines, newspapers, phonebooks, catalogues, mail, envelopes, office paper, poster board, flattened OCC corrugated boxes and boxboard such as cereal boxes and paper egg cartons. Paper products must be dry.

Metals that can be recycled include aluminum cans and steel vegetable and soup cans that have been rinsed free of food.

Some items cannot be recycled at this time including glass, wax-coated cardboard such as meat boxes, televisions or computer monitors and plastics No. 3 through 7, which include Styrofoam, plastic bags, solo cups and PVC products.

For more information, visit www.misslourecycles.com or call Vidalia City Hall at 318-336-5206 to sign up for the program.