(KTNC)--Residents in northwest Missouri are being asked to provide their input to a survey about recycling in the region.   The Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments is conducting the survey as part of a solid waste management technical assistance grant it received from USDA Rural Development. 
 Linda Laderoute, an Environmental Planner with the Northwest Missouri Regional Council, says the survey is simple and straightforward.  She says it asks about recycling infrastructure available to residents and another section asks about recycling habits and attitudes.  The survey will be available on Survey Monkey for three months, from December 16 until March 15.  A link to the survey will also be available on the Regional Council's webpage and Facebook page, and paper copies will be available at city and county clerk's offices.
 Local communities in the five counties the Regional Council of Governments covers are being asked to endorse the survey.  Laderoute says they’ll use survey results to develop individual reports for communities that have endorsed the project.  The reports will contain responses from local survey respondents.
 Participating communities will then gather on Earth Day, April 22, to begin developing the recycling plan process facilitated by the survey results.
 Laderoute says she also hopes to dovetail this project with other grant opportunities.  She mentions one grant through Keep America Beautiful and the Coca-Cola Foundation that would provide recycling receptacles for plastic and aluminum drink containers.
 She says the sparse population in the northwest corner of Missouri makes recycling not very cost-effective, so it would help if they can develop chains to move items out of the area.  She says there are some centralized recycling locations in Maryville.
 The grant is for $21,500 and the project is scheduled to be complete by September 30.
 There are other recycling opportunities in northwest Missouri next spring.  A tire collection is planned for April 12 in Oregon and March 29 in Maryville.  A hazardous waste collection is planned in Rock Port on April 26 and in Maryville on March 29. 
Both of those events are open to all residents in the region served by the Northwest Missouri Council of Governments.  That Northwest Missouri Regional Council of Governments serves Atchison, Holt, Nodaway, Worth, and Gentry Counties.