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QUINCY, ILL. -- We hear a lot about the importance of recycling.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, recycling reduces the need for more landfills; prevents pollution; saves energy and decreases greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.

But are Tri-State residents actually doing it at their homes and at work?

KHQA's Rajah Maples headed out with a garbage crew Monday to talk trash facts for this KHQA FactFinder Report.

Allied Waste Services of Quincy collects trash for about 10-thousand people in Adams County and Northeast Missouri. The company also services Southeast Iowa and contracts with the City of Quincy to dispose the city's trash.

How much trash do people get rid of in the City of Quincy and Adams County as a whole?

Allied Waste General Manager Bill Romans said, "The City of Quincy generates 50 to 52 tons of waste a day. Adams County, without knowing the exact population, I'm going to estimate in the 80 to 85 tons a day."

That's a lot of trash, but we found much of that could be recycled.

It didn't take us long to find items that could've been recycled. At the first house we stopped at, I found this plastic milk carton that could've been recycled, this cardboard box, this Capri Sun box that's cardboard and a laundry detergent bottle.

Why do you think people aren't recycling these days?

Romans said, "Personally, I believe it's the cost involved in it. Either there's going to be a cost from a provider such as Allied Waste if we provide the service or it's going to cost them to do it on their own through gas and their time."

Romans says Allied has tried a recycling program once before. But he says the company didn't have enough customers participating in the program to pay for it. But the good news even though many don't recycle...Romans told me our landfills are in pretty good shape compared to the rest of the state. For example, our area landfills have a 14- to 15- year life capacity, while the State of Illinois' average is 9 to 10 years.

In your business, how important is recycling to what you do?

Romans said, "I think recycling is important even to us, because it's going to save landfill space, which is a giant capital cost to us to build a new cell."

Is this a nasty job?

Romans said, "No." Somebody's got to do it."

Allied Waste Services of Quincy is looking into providing a drop-off center at its landfill near LaGrange, Missouri for people to recycle plastics, paper and cardboard.

The company also is about 30 to 45 days away from kicking off an electronics recycling program so that people can recycle their electronics year-round.

General Manager Bill Romans says the company plans to have an electronics recycling drop-off at both its Quincy facility and the landfill near LaGrange.