The western Michigan county that includes the city of Grand Rapids says it will be more aggressive in issuing fines as a result of unwelcome materials being taken to its recycling drop-off centers.

According to an article posted by the Grand Rapids Press to its website, Kent County is preparing to install cameras at its recycling drop-off centers as a way to identify who is bringing nonrecyclable items and, ultimately, to improve quality.

The article cites the Kent County Recycling and Education Center as estimating that the “volume of contaminated recycling has more than doubled in the past four years.”

In response, the county plans to install new signage as well as surveillance cameras at three drop-off centers “notifying people that they may be subject to a penalty if they dump trash in the bins,” according to the Press.

The county’s Resource Recovery Specialist Nic VanderVinne is quoted as saying that disparate items including tricycles, medical waste, garden hoses and bags full of food have been dropped off at the centers.

Statistics gathered by the county show that in 2011, 9 percent of the tons delivered to the drop-off centers were deemed waste, but, so far in 2015, the contamination rate has been 14.6 percent.

A Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) employee also is quoted as calling for “a concerted education effort to make sure that people know that these commodities need to be kept in a state that’s going to be able to be turned into carpet or a new chair.”

Kent County also is considering how to enforce a proposed $250 fine for illegal dumping for offenders at the recycling drop-off centers, according to the Grand Rapids Press.