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Citizen Recycling Drop-Off Into Second Week As Agency Considers Additional Sites, Longer Hours

BALTIMORE (WJZ) – Baltimore City Public Works officials will wait until Friday to assess how recycling drop-off sites are faring, agency officials told WJZ.

The city's Public Works Acting Director Matthew Garbark last month announced the city would temporarily stop residential recycling collection so its crews could focus on trash collection.

Currently, a dozen "drop-off" sites across the city are open from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m. Several others are open until 5 p.m and 7 p.m. Click here for a list of those locations and hours.

Residential trash volume increased by 20 percent since the start of the pandemic, according to DPW officials. Several COVID-19 outbreaks and the summer's heat caused issues with staffing and delays in trash collection.

The line Tuesday at the Sisson Street Citizen Drop-Off Center stretched more than a block up the road.

"I think it's really important. We have to look out for each other. That's the most important thing (cut) especially right now," Ryan Murphy said as he was recycling boxes Tuesday. "I was thinking myself even to get a group of people together to try to pick up recycling for people."

Garbark said recycling collection would likely be suspended through October. He said if citizens put recycling out with their trash, it would be collected, but just not recycled. Anything collected with trash will make its way to the landfill instead a recycling processing center.

"The issue isn't the material or the resources—well, the issue is going to be the human resources," Garbark told WJZ last week.

Baltimore DPW did not make the director or supervisors available Tuesday for an interview.

Community Collection Center Locations

Note: Two of the Community Collection Centers listed below are DPW's Citizens' Convenience Drop-off Centers located on Reedbird Avenue and Bowleys Lane. These locations will be reopened to accept trash and recycling with hours noted below.

• District 1: DPW Maritime Operations Facility, 3311 Eastbourne Avenue
• District 2: DPW Eastside Sanitation Yard, 6101 Bowleys Lane
(open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Saturday)
• District 3: Hamilton Elementary School, 6101 Old Harford Road
• District 4: Chinquapin Middle School, 900 Woodbourne Avenue
• District 5: Former Police Academy, 3500 W. Northern Parkway
• District 6: Greenspring Middle School, 4701 Greenspring Avenue
• District 7: Westside Elementary School, 2235 N. Fulton Avenue
• District 8: Westside Skills Center, 4501 Edmondson Avenue
• District 9: DPW Meter Shop, 200 N. Franklintown Road
• District 10: DPW Southwest Sanitation Yard, 701 Reedbird Avenue
(open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday-Saturday)
• District 11: Digital Harbor High School, 1100 Covington Street
• District 12: Dunbar High School, 601 N. Central Avenue
• District 13: DPW Property Management Facility, 1825 Edison Highway
• District 14: Mergenthaler ("Mervo") High School, 3500 Hillen Road

Convenience Drop-Off Center Locations

• Sisson Street Citizen Drop-Off Center, located at 2840 Sisson Street, Monday – Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Northwest Transfer Station, located at 5030 Reisterstown Road, Monday - Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Quarantine Road Landfill, located at 6100 Quarantine Road. Monday - Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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