By AMY JONES / Associate Editor

HOOVER — Starting May 1, Hoover residents will have the option to exchange their current 32-gallon recycling containers for 95-gallon containers.

Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said city officials have been working on making the exchange available to residents for about four months, ever since hearing residents talk about the inconvenience of the 32-gallon containers.

“People are saying they don’t have enough room in the cans. They have to fill bags and carry the bags out to the street,” Ivey said. “We wanted to make it easy for them. We wanted to encourage recycling and make it so they don’t have to make multiple trips to the street.”

The new containers will be equal to the size of residents’ garbage containers, but will be a different color to help residents distinguish between the containers.

Residents who wish to exchange the recycling containers should call the Hoover Public Works Department at 444-7543 after May 1. The department will deliver a new 95-gallon container and pick up the 32-gallon container free of charge.

Ivey said as recycling container size has increased, so has the number of Hoover residents recycling.

“Our original recycling containers were just a handheld box, then we went up to 32 gallons and then to 95 gallons,” he said. “Not only does the size increase, the number of people doing it increases.”