Dive summary:

• The Salem, Mass. City Council is working with worried residents to address concerns with the city’s upcoming mandated recycling program.
• If the program goes through, Salem could receive $50,000 from the state but residents are concerned that the program will end up costing the city more money in enforcement than they make.
• Residents who don't recycle would eventually be subject to a $25 fine and would not have their trash picked up.

From the article:

Ward 1 Councilor Robert McCarthy said he hates the name and prefers to refer to the ordinance as "Recycling 102".

"This is just second-level recycling education," McCarthy said, adding that concerned city residents need to understand that the priority of the ordinance is to encourage the public to recycle more - not to punish people or leave trash on the curb.

After all, the ordinance has already been amended so that residents who don't put out a recycling bin will still have their trash picked up - and it would take seven consecutive weeks of not recycling before the first fine would be imposed. ...