Is Manatee County not recycling paper, plastics, metals?

This morning I observed in stunned disbelief as the Waste Management truck crew tossed both recycling bins at my home into the back of an ordinary garbage truck -- no sorting as is the standard procedure followed so often in the past.

I watched as this happened at every stop along my street. We are careful to place paper items in one bin and plastics and metals in the other, as we have been directed to do. Will this get sorted at some facility later in the day? Doubtful.

Most likely all will find its way into a landfill. What are all of the hundreds of residents in my neighborhood, who pay careful attention to proper recycling efforts, to believe about the county's and Waste Management's dedication to proper handling of these recyclables when things like this happen?

I'm under the impression that we can be fined for failure to observe proper sorting, keeping garbage out of the recycling bins and recyclables out of garbage containers. I'd like to hear what both Waste Management and the county have to say about this.

Michael Herring

Bradenton

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Is Manatee County not recycling paper, plastics, metals? ."