The citizens of Hannibal voted down a measure on Tuesday that for $12 a month would have allowed the city to continue its drop-off recycling program.

The fee would have generated enough money to pay for a recycling firm, or the current provider Northeast Missouri Sheltered Workshop, to maintain the program.

The very successful program keeps plastics, aluminum and other non-biodegradable trash from our landfills, which are filling up fast. It also had the potential to provide a steady source of work for the disabled adults served by the workshop.

The workshop can no longer afford to handle the program without users assistance. The program recycled more than 500 tons of paper products alone last year, many of it coming from large, local consumers like industry and the schools.

The workshop’s board is meeting today to decide next steps, which will likely include the phasing out of its role in Hannibal’s recycling program.

What happens to this trash now?