Contaminating recycling bins with garbage causes whole bales of recyclables to end up in landfill

Fish and deer carcasses, propane bottles, and glass, all of these nonrecyclable items have shown up in the Petersburg Borough Sanitation Department's comingled recycling bins.

Commingled means customers' recyclable materials don't need to be sorted into plastic, aluminum, paper, etc.

However, the recycling must be clean and free of food and debris.

Glass is not recyclable in Petersburg. But there are glass drop-off locations for the public at the baler and at Public Works.

"At 303 South 2nd Street," Director of Public Works Chris Cotta said via email. "We collect glass from large generators in...