Frank Dickman contacted The Press when he saw a recent article on Coplay’s latest effort to increase the amount of recycling.

“When I was elected to council in 2004, I attended an event in Harrisburg on recycling. I was surprised and proud to see that Coplay was the first community to initiate a recycling program and was instrumental in getting the program adopted statewide,” he said.

The program in Coplay, the first recycling program in the state, was started by Coplay Councilwoman Helen Schnecker in 1986. “She started it here, and because of her diligence and persistence, the program was adopted statewide,” he said.

Dickman, a former Coplay councilman, was dismayed that recycling revenues have dropped.

“We were pretty consistent with revenues around $10,000 every year, but I see that it has now dropped off to around $8,000. I don’t think it’s because residents have less to recycle,” he said.

According to Dickman, the biggest advantage to the recycling dollars is they can be spent on anything the borough needs.

“These aren’t budgeted dollars, so council can spend them on anything that the borough needs,” he said.

Dickman estimated the borough received more than $200,000 in revenues over the years from recycling.

Public works employees collect recyclables every Thursday.

“It doesn’t cost residents anything to set them out,” Dickman said. “And don’t take them to another community to another municipality where they get the recycling dollars.”

With all the development plans proposed by borough council for the community plaza, supporting the library and a new park near Saylor Kilns, there are plenty of worthy projects that can use the funds, Dickman said.

“We are showing only about 20 percent of the people participate in the program. Increase the number of people who participate and increase the quantity. We can start having some of the nicer things in the borough,” he said.