Iowa City and UI officials are making recycling easier for those living in residential neighborhoods and residence halls, but tenants in larger apartment buildings still have no city-sponsored options.

“There has been a demand for recycling at the larger multifamily dwellings in Iowa City for 10 to 15 years,” said Jennifer Jordan, recycling coordinator at the Iowa City Landfill & Recycling Center. “People want it.”

The Recycling Center does not currently possess the equipment necessary to provide recycling to larger apartment buildings.

“I would say it’s coming in the next couple years,” Jordan said.

Iowa City provides recycling bins and affordable pick-up for residential and multi-family dwellings of four units or less.

According to the city’s website, those living in a residential or a multifamily dwelling of four units or fewer pay $3.10 a month, applied to their utility bills, for recycling. In order to provide recycling to Iowa City apartments, this amount will likely need to rise.

Furthermore, the city currently uses a multiple-stream recycling system that requires such items as cardboard, cans, and plastic to be separated before they are picked up.

Jordan said Iowa City could transition to a single stream system within the next 18 months.

Recycling capabilities are also increasing in the UI’s residence halls. Von Stange, director of University Housing, said all of the residence halls will have recycling capabilities by the end of the week.

Most residence halls will only have a designated area on the main floor, while halls like Hillcrest and Quadrangle will be able to collect recycling in waste rooms located on every floor.

“We’re doing more recycling now than we did previously,” Stange said.

Jordan said the next issue will be how to best provide recycling to the multi-family dwellings.

Property management companies like Apartments Downtown provide only Dumpsters for tenants of their larger apartment buildings. They feel it is the city’s responsibility to provide recycling services. For two weeks during the end of lease period, referred to locally as “the Iowa City shuffle,” Apartments Downtown has a waste services provider that sorts larger recyclable items made of wood and steel from their Dumpsters.

Some blame the lack of recycling opportunities on the residents themselves. An “incredibly low” number of larger apartment buildings in Iowa City actually recycle, said Craig Greiner, who works for Allied Waste Services.

“College kids are college kids,” he said. “They’ll throw garbage in the recycling and recycling in the Dumpster, and it becomes a problem of contamination.”

In the meantime, tenants of Iowa City apartments who do plan to recycle may take items to one of the local recycling centers listed on the city’s website.