City of Erie halts free recycling/waste can distribution because of high demand

The city of Erie's distribution of free 35-gallon recycling/waste cans — which began Monday on a first-come, first-served basis ― has been halted because city officials have been "overwhelmed" by public demand.

Mayor Joe Schember's administration announced Tuesday evening that Tuesday's event was cut short, and the planned distribution of the cans Wednesday and Thursday has been canceled. The city announced recently that it had roughly 5,000 such cans available for residents, paid for through a recycling grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The roll cart-style cans were to be made available for pickup on four different days and times this week at 2001 Holland Street, which is part of the city's public works complex. The giveaway began Monday.

However, long lines of vehicles were reported in that area during Tuesday's distribution, which backed up traffic significantly and required the Erie Bureau of Police to monitor and direct traffic.

"We were overwhelmed with the success of the recycling container distribution and unfortunately for everyone's safety we had to close the event," according to a Tuesday evening post on the city's Facebook page. "The distribution on Wednesday and Thursday is canceled. We are sorry for the inconvenience. We will be holding future distribution events in neighborhoods which will be posted on our social media and website."

City officials originally planned to distribute the cans Monday and Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. City officials said cans are limited to one per household, and anyone seeking to obtain a can must show proof of city residency.

Information on how many of the cans had been distributed before Tuesday afternoon was not immediately available.

Learn more about recycling in the City of Erie at cityof.erie.pa.us/recycling.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: City of Erie halts free recycling/waste can distribution because of high demand