Rock Hill will save $20,000 from its general fund per year by restructuring the city’s recycling pickup routes on Wednesdays.

The recycling route changes affect only the time at which drivers will collect residents’ blue bins.

Residents accustomed to their recycling being collected on Wednesdays may notice their bin picked up earlier or later than before. Residents whose bins collected on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are not affected.

The city consolidated four recycling pickup routes into three for Wednesdays only, said Katie Quinn, communications specialist for the city of Rock Hill.

The majority of the $20,000 saved is in fuel costs, she said. The driver of the route affected has been reassigned within the public works department, Quinn said.

Rock Hill’s recycling pickup within city limits does not cost extra for residents, Quinn said, because they already pay sanitation fees for garbage and yard waste pickup. That sanitation fee is mandatory for residents within city limits.

General operation hours for the recycling routes will not change: drivers begin work at 6:30 a.m., and end their collections at 5 p.m. Drivers then take recycled items to a Charlotte company where the city receives money for the deposits.

Rock Hill made about $220,000 from the deposits last year, Quinn said in an e-mail. The recycling program also saves the city money in landfill tipping fees.

Those savings added up to about $175,000 in 2011.

Each recycling route has one driver who sorts through the items. There are eight full-time employees in the recycling department.

Rock Hill also recently began curbside collection of corrogated cardboard.

Previously, residents were instructed to deposit corrogated cardboard at local fire departments. Large pieces of corrogated cardboard should be broken down into 2-foot foot sections and should be placed next to the recycling bin.

Pizza boxes are technically an acceptable item for collection but most times the cardboard is too greasy to recycle, Quinn said. Pizza boxes are usually best disposed of with other household garbage, not in the recycling bin.

The city says it will provide residents with replacement recycling bins or extra bins if they’re needed, free of charge.

For questions about changes to pickup or to request more bins, call 803-329-5610.

Anna Douglas 803-329-4068