Residents in both Columbia and Ashland will see changes to how they discard their recycling starting in June.

Jason West, communication and outreach supervisor with the city of Columbia Utilities Department, said the department is looking at automating the recycling pickup.

"One thing we are looking at is more automated in the recycling collection, much like we have with the trash," West said. "We're looking at using that same model on the recycling, too. So, coming in the future, residents would have two carts, one for trash, one for recycling, and then those would get picked up."

Discarding recycling will still be done the same way with separating cardboard and cans. No bins will be given to residents, and there's no additional cost. However, a potential increase in cost for residents is moving through Columbia City Council, West said.

West said the city is working on making glass discarding available to Columbia residents in the future.

"... We might be able to have a relationship with a company that does only glass," West said. "So we may have more news coming in in that regard, too. But some of those are the things that are different for Columbia than maybe another community within Missouri or within the country."

​​The new Material Recovery Facility for Columbia still has months of planning and construction, but West believes it'll be done around 2028. In the meantime, a monthly drop-off site in Columbia is in progress, and West said an announcement will come in the next couple of weeks.