The Yuma City Council approved a plan for curbside recycling Wednesday night. Many residents who spoke up said it's about time.

"I get a lot of calls from people saying, 'I can't believe you don't have recycling in Yuma for a community this large," said Ken Rosevear of the Yuma Chamber of Commerce, who spoke during the public comments section.

"So we need to get with the times," added a representative from Yuma's Clean and Beautiful Commission.

There will be no additional cost for trash pick up fees, according to the planners of this contract.

"For the most part, our operational services will remain the same. We'll utilize the same trucks, we'll utilize the same personnel," said Joel Oleas, director of field operations for the City of Yuma Public Works department.

Instead of having two trash pick up days, one of those days will be a recycling pick up day.

Even some of the younger members of the Yuma community spoke out in support.

"Recycling is really important to me," said Mary Stoftt, a sixth grader at Castle Dome Middle School. "Most recyclables are stuff that we use every day."

Mayor Al Krieger was the only councilmember who voted against the plan. He said many community members are concerned about losing the extra trash pick up day.

"The people who believe we're going to lose service because one half of our service will be picking up recyclables, don't understand how much reusable or recyclable material they throw away," said Chip Straley, AWC theatre professor, in response to concerns of trash overflow from reduced pick up days.

Under this plan, Allied Waste Services will provide 21,000 recycling containers for single-family homes.

Allied Waste will make its profit from selling the recyclable materials and will give 10 percent of the share to the city.

"We'll process it, bale it, and then we'll sell it to different buyers and the port of Los Angeles," said Derek Ruckman, general manager of Allied Waste Services for Yuma and Imperial Counties.

City planners said these profits will go into a fund to help pay for maintenance of vehicles and equipment.

This program could start as soon as May.