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TYLER, Texas (KETK) — The Tyler City Council announced on Wednesday that curbside recycling will return to the city next week, putting an end to the year-long pause.

In June 2024, Rivers Recycling in Kilgore suffered a fire that decimated the building and halted recycling services for multiple East Texas cities, including Tyler and Longview. Starting July 14, Tyler residents will have access to curbside recycling services through the Northeast Texas Regional Materials Recovery Facility (NETX).

The City of Tyler stated that it is now in contract with NETX, which will sell and sort the recyclable materials. City officials discussed what this new contract means for Tyler during a City of Tyler zoning and planning meeting.

“Last month, Rivers (Rivers Recycling) decided they were not going to open. NETX said they were officially opening so we put the bid out. The only bid received was from NETX at $75 a ton, which pretty much brings us back right to where we were before the fire. With this agreement, it would be for a one year term and we do have the option for five additional one year terms if the price stays the same of it doesn’t increase more than CPI.”

City of Tyler Director of Solid Waste, Transit, Vehicle and Equipment Services Larry Sparrow

The following guideline from the city describes collection rules and what items are deemed accepted recyclables.

Collection Rules

Recycle carts can be brought to the curb at 6 a.m. on the assigned collection day, which can be found on the Tyler Talks Trash app or on the Tyler Solid Waste Website. Carts must be placed at least six feet away from immovable objects and behind the curb line with the lid facing toward the street.

Recycle Cart Rules

• Items placed outside the cart may not be collected and could result in an additional fee
• Aluminum cans and plastic bottles should be crushed to save space.
• All recyclables must fit inside the cart
• Glass is not accepted in the curbside recycling program
• Cardboard should be broken down

Accepted Items

• Food and beverage cartons
• Newspapers, junk mail and magazines
• Broken-down cardboard
• Crushed aluminum and tin cans
• Empty aerosol cans
• Office paper and brown paper grocery bags
• Plastic bags or plastic wrap
• Rinsed plastics #1 – #7 (with lids removed)

Unaccepted Items

• Improperly sorted or contaminated materials
• Glass

Those who are already registered for services with the previous recycling facility will be automatically reenrolled unless they cancelled the service during the year-long pause. Customers who cancelled the subscription will have to re-enroll for services.

People who sign up for the program will be given a recycling cart, along with twice-monthly recycling collection. According to the City, the collection services will cost $5.96 a month plus tax and those interested in enrolling can contact the Solid Waste Office at SolidWaste@TylerTexas.com or 903-531-1388.