From the city and from the players who find markets for reusable material, the message is right. A sagging economy has hurt recycling efforts, but that doesn’t mean we should be easing up on the throttle.

For too long Waco was wallowing in timidity. It waited for markets to scream out for raw materials that were flowing straight to the landfill.

Recyclers now face a pinch because of lessened demand for those products. But this shouldn’t alter Waco’s course. Things will turn around.

The city has seen a burst of curbside participation. Pickup now includes paper (not tissue), aluminum, steel and tin cans, and a wide variety of plastic on the curb in the designated bins. Glass is the only common recyclable product not allowed in designated bins, but it is taken at the Cobbs Drive citizens collection station.

The station has greatly increased the number of materials it takes. Until 2006 it only accepted plastics Nos. 1 and 2 — generally soda bottles and milk jugs. Now it accepts plastics Nos. 1 through 7. That’s in addition to aluminum, steel and tin, glass, cardboard, newsprint and mixed paper.

This year the Cobbs station started accepting green glass for recycling .

Another big development at Cobbs is the recycling of computers and electronics equipment, a growing solid waste challenge.

Do the right thing for the environment and the city. The economy will right itself.