DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - Since a new recycling program began in August in Davenport and Bettendorf, the amount of recyclables collected has increased more than 70 percent for the two cities from the same three month period last year, officials said.

Officials credit the switch to the “Go All In” program, the Quad-City Times reported (https://bit.ly/2fo1ofD ) Saturday. The new program allows more types of plastic and paper containers to be recycled and is now a single-stream system - meaning residents no longer have to sort recycled materials; they can simply toss it all into one cart.

Brandy Welvaert with the Waste Commission of Scott County said there’s been a 95 percent increase in tonnage collected in Davenport over the same three months in 2015. Bettendorf has seen a 39 percent increase in tonnage, she said.

The switch to the new system was made to encourage more recycling, because participation and tonnage had dropped off dramatically from when recycling was introduced in the cities 20 years ago, officials said.

While tonnage is up, the participation rate, which looks at how many people are recycling, won’t be reported until December. Welvaert said participation data is being collected through software connected to hardware on household recycling carts.

When the commission decided to go to single-stream recycling, it had to retrofit its recycling facility with equipment to do the sorting at the facility.

The building also had to be expanded to accommodate the expected increase in materials.

The $11 million project was paid for by the commission. The total includes $4.6 million for updating and expanding the center, $3.1 million for new processing equipment and $2.7 million for new carts.

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Information from: Quad-City Times, https://www.qctimes.com

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