Lawrence public works employee Duane LaFrenz, left, conducts quality control as driver Mike Brown waits to pick up a load of recycling, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, in north Lawrence.

One year after the city’s curbside recycling program began, a city official says the most recent report shows the program is popular.

“We knew we were going to get good numbers but they are really, really good numbers,” said Kathy Richardson, solid waste division manager. “We have heard from residents who said they never recycled before but now they are. That is great to hear.”

In the first nine months of the year, the city sent 4,090 tons of recyclable materials to Hamm’s recycling facility just north of Lawrence, according to a report prepared last week. The material all came from the city’s single-stream, curbside recycling program, which allows residents to set out glass, cardboard, newspapers, plastics and other materials in a single container at their curbs. In addition to what was collected through the curbside program, the city also collected 1,917 tons of material through city-operated drop box locations and through programs that the city has to recycle cardboard from industrial customers and others.

Lawrence residents, though, still generated a lot of trash that went into the landfill. Even though curbside recycling has made it more convenient to recycle, the amount of trash Lawrence is sending to the landfill actually has increased in the last nine months.

City crews took 48,665 tons of trash to the landfill north of Lawrence. That amount is an increase of about 4 percent — or about 2,000 tons — from the first nine months of last year, according to the city’s figures.

Richardson said she thinks debris from construction projects generated a large part of the increase in trash. Building permit totals have set a new record in 2015, and the debris from those construction projects can add significantly to the city’s overall landfill totals.

The Lawrence City Commission, when it approved the recycling program, said it hopes to eventually achieve a 50 percent recycling rate in the city. As part of this most recent report, the city did not calculate an overall recycling rate. To calculate the rate, the city has to measure a variety of sources including its curbside program, its industrial collections, and the city’s yard waste collections.

In addition, the most recent report listed the income and cost of the program. Prices for recycled materials have been low for much of the year, and the city consequently has not received much revenue from the curbside program. Here’s a look at some of the totals:

–In the first nine months, the city received $333 from the sale of the recyclable materials collected as part of the curbside program. The city’s contract with Hamm calls for the city to be paid for the materials, but only when the average price per ton for recyclables reaches $51. Only in July and August did the price reach more than $51 a ton, according to the city’s figures.

–The city’s contract with Hamm — a major solid waste company based in Jefferson County — calls for the city to pay a fee of $45 a ton for Hamm to process the materials because glass is included in the materials. When glass is part of a curbside recycling program, it often breaks and the small pieces of glass become hard to recycle and can become contaminated by the other materials, which adds to the cost of processing.

Many other communities in the region do not pay a similar $45 per ton fee, according to recycling leaders from several other communities in the region.

As a result of the fee, Lawrence has paid Hamm $240,000 in recycling tipping fees since the program began last October, according to a story published last week in the Lawrence Journal-World. That story detailed the difficulties and expense of mixing glass at the curb with other materials such as cardboard and paper.

–The city also pays a tipping fee to dispose of trash in the landfill, which also is operated by Hamm. That fee is $28 per ton. The city sent 48,665 tons of trash to the landfill for a cost of $1.4 million, according to the city report.

Mayor Mike Amyx said he believed the overall recycling program was working well. But he said he was concerned about the cost of glass.

“We need to talk about that,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re getting the same deal as everybody else.”

Commissioner Leslie Soden said if city staff could find a better way to handle glass, it should research that.

Dale Nimz, sustainability advisory board chairman, said he believed the recycling program was working well.

“I think we realize the single-stream system is a big change for the better, but I also think it will take a while to see how it works,” he said.

He pointed out that Hamm had spent a lot of money building the recycling facility north of Lawrence.

“Hamm made a very large investment that is right outside of our town,” he said. “That is a significant investment.”