AUSTINTOWN — Recycling bins at the 9/11 Memorial Park on Raccoon Road overflowed Sunday night with not only recyclables, but non-recyclable items and garbage.

Because of COVID-19 concerns, Republic Services on Monday suspended curbside recycling pickup in Mahoning County, leaving the Mahoning County Solid Waste District Green Team to pick up the pace by increasing bin emptying service in affected communities.

The Green Team increased service to 12 locations across the county, according to department head Louis Vega. At Raccoon Road, bins are now being emptied six days a week ä but not on Sundays, because the transfer station in Poland where recyclables are taken is not open on weekends.

Only six recycle sites are emptied on Saturdays for the same reason. Items are stored in trucks until the transfer station opens on Monday; from the transfer station, recyclables are sent to Akron to be sorted and processed.

“Go during the week,” said Vega of the recycle bins. “The space is finite. If you go and bins are full, come back another day.”

He said the Green Team is asking people to be “courteous and conscientious” when recycling. The problem at Raccoon Road, one of the county’s busiest recycling drop-off sites, was not just that bins were too full — people also put trash in and around bins.

A video taken by Austintown Trustee Jim Davis shows a toy tricycle, a recliner chair, bedroom furniture, a mattress, an electronic speaker, and slices of pizza left outside dumpsters at the 9/11 Memorial.

“We’ve got to be responsible citizens,” Davis said. “Especially in times like these, when items could potentially be contaminated by viruses. No one wants to clean up after other individuals.”

Austintown also has recycling bins at the township park on Kirk Road. Davis said the township’s bins are not the only ones that were hit hard last weekend as residents anticipated their bi-weekly curbside pickup being disrupted.

Vega pointed to bins in Mill Creek Park and in Poland that also overflowed over the weekend.

Leaving items outside the bin is considered illegal open dumping under the Ohio Revised Code and is a criminal offense. Vega said this week the Green Team will be posting signs at bins stating their intent to pursue charges for illegal dumping.

Vega said because of COVID-19 concerns, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s office is short on day reporters whose community service involved emptying bins. Deputies are now emptying bins themselves.

Those emptying bins also have to be extra cautious, as COVID-19 has been shown to remain viable on certain surfaces, meaning items in the bins could be contaminated.

“One never knows,” said Vega.

avugrincic@tribtoday.com