5,300 Recycling Bins Crushed, Sent To D.C. Landfill

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washington officials say thousands of old plastic trash bins were crushed and sent to a landfill instead of being recycled.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works tells The Washington Post Tuesday that an estimated 5,300 cans were not recycled.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray's administration has been rolling out new trash and recycling receptacles. But the old cans cluttered city streets.

Gray last week authorized $130,000 in overtime pay for trash crews to collect remaining bins on public curbs or in alleys.

Last week, a Washington Post reporter saw a sanitation crew stuffing more than 30 unwanted cans into a city garbage truck.