SIDNEY — Republic Services, on behalf of the city of Sidney, has announced a new collection schedule for curbside recycling. The new schedule began Monday, Feb. 1.

Each of the five solid waste collection routes have been further subdivided into “A” and “B” routes for recycling collection. Recycling collection will be alternated every other week between the “A” and “B” routes of each collection route. Trash will always be collected on a weekly basis and the collection day will remain the same.

“What we saw when we transitioned to the new automated collection system last October, was a 33 percent increase in curbside recycling,” said Assitant City Manager/Public Works Director Gary Clough. “While we are thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive increase in community recycling, it did cause congestion issues at the Shelby County Recycling Center. Our goal in further subdividing the recycling collection routes is to eliminate the bottlenecks occurring at the Recycling Center and establish a more even flow of materials.”

Notices of the Feb. 1 changes were included in Sidney utility bills for those receiving invoices in January or were mailed by Republic Services to those on varying billing schedules. The new collection schedule and subdivided route map are available for download at www.sidneyoh.com/Solid-Waste/sw-recycling.asp

Any questions on the recycling schedule may be directed to Republic Services at 1-800-686-1732. Any questions on acceptable materials may be directed to the North Central Ohio Solid Waste District at 1-800-553-6763, ext. 20.