City Council Questions the Value of Curbside Recycling Program

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City Council Questions the Value of Curbside Recycling Program

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Started 5 months ago by News
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News
Columbus Underground
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Council questions Coleman’s recycling plan
By Doug Caruso
The Columbus Dispatch
Thursday December 1, 2011 6:58 AM

A proposed curbside recycling plan drew lots of questions from Columbus City Council members last night in a hearing that left it unclear whether a key priority for Mayor Michael B. Coleman has the support it needs.

The mayor’s public-service director asked the council to take up legislation on Monday night to purchase the first $4 million in bins. But at the hearing’s end, City Council President Andrew J. Ginther said he wasn’t committing to a vote.

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2011/12/01/recycling-plan-questioned.html

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Previous Discussion: Columbus City Council Putting the Brakes on City-Wide Recycling Program?

More: Details Announced on Columbus Curbside Recycling Program

Posted 5 months ago #
ssnyder5
Clintonville
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I recycled before I moved to Columbus and was surprised by the lack of recycling in the city. When I rented, I drove my (and for awhile my office's) recyclables to the collection points and now I subscribe to curbside service. I support the city-sponsored curbside recycling plan.

I went to the hearing last night. Much of the discussion centered around two different concepts for recycling - Curbside recycling and Dirty MRF.

But even by the dirty MRF's (SWACO) proponents estimates, the technology needed is 3-5 years away, would require the construction of a new facility to implement it, and the recovered recycled materials would be of lower quality that those collected via curbside collection.

I found it very disappointing that in the meantime the suggestion from dirty MRF proponents seemed to be that we as a city do nothing. I was further unimpressed by the long presentation on the part of SWACO that questioned what the true reported recycling rates of other cities were, even though he admitted that he agreed the numbers for Columbus were accurate. The implication from them being, "hey, our rates aren't as bad as they may seem in comparison, so why bother striving to do better".

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Thanks for the extra insight, ssnyder5. I wasn't able to make the hearing, but have been pretty surprised by some of the response I've been hearing so far. I do think this system deserves the due diligence of public hearings, professional input and a consideration of all options both long-term and short-term, but it really does sound like City Council is making people work to convince them that recycling is a good idea at all, rather than discussion which is the best solution to this issue.

The "do nothing in the short term because of a new possible solution down the road" is ridiculous and trying put our low recycling rate in a different light to make it seem not quite as bad is a pretty poor reaction. We should be striving to have the highest recycling rate in the country... not settling for "not that bad".

Posted 5 months ago #
0Angle
A brewery or my kitchen or my bicycle.
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Walker for city council!
I know I'm not the first to suggest it...
Ian and Walker need to be [/b]Appointed[b] first.

Posted 5 months ago #
0Angle
A brewery or my kitchen or my bicycle.
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0Angle said:
Walker for city council!
I know I'm not the first to suggest it...
Ian and Walker need to be [/b]Appointed[b] first.

And I guess two white guys need to leave .
ETA I was trying to edit, not quote.

Posted 5 months ago #
joev
Merion Village
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0Angle said:
And I guess two white guys need to leave .

LOL! So sad, but so true.

Posted 5 months ago #
cheap
Westgate
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does Rumpke pick up Ginther's recycling?

Posted 5 months ago #
Pablo
Crestview Addition
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I say we stop funding all road projects, including the split, because transporter technology (a la Star Trek) is just around the corner and will make roads obsolete.

Posted 5 months ago #
lazyfish

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How about instead of buying recycling bins for every household you ask those who want to recycle either to buy a bin or put their recycling out in a bag, box or other container. Yikes, why is the simple stuff always so complex in this town?

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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lazyfish said:
How about instead of buying recycling bins for every household you ask those who want to recycle either to buy a bin or put their recycling out in a bag, box or other container. Yikes, why is the simple stuff always so complex in this town?

That's essentially what we already have right now. An opt-in program that people pay to participate in.

A program with city-wide participation = higher landfill diversion rates.

Posted 5 months ago #
lazyfish

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Actually you have to pay a monthly fee...seems some on council are freeked about buying $4 million worth of plastic bins...I would be too

Posted 5 months ago #
howatzer

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Again, anyone know how big these bins are supposed to be?

Posted 5 months ago #
jbcmh81

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It's a little disappointing that this would even have any dissent. I used to live in Mexico City and was surprised because they literally separate all trash. They practically separate recyclables right at the curb. They also have developed a process that turns waste into energy that should completely clean up their dumping grounds in time. And a city/metro of 25 million produces a LOT of trash. Why we have so much trouble doing basic recycling, a concept that been around for decades, is a little strange.

Posted 5 months ago #
mbeaumont
Italian Village
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howatzer said:
Again, anyone know how big these bins are supposed to be?

They're the same size as the big green garbage bins.

Posted 5 months ago #
mfreeman

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Actually, I think the recycling containers are supposed to be smaller (65 gallon) than the current green garbage bins (90 gallon). Source).

I currently pay Rumke about $8.25 per week to pick up an 18 gallon container, and the only plastic they accept are bottles. It is pretty lame.

It would cost the city about $1 per month per household for the proposed program.

Aside from the financial considerations, it is just the responsible thing to do. My parents live in NJ, and they have mandatory recycling. Not only does the city pay for the program, it is illegal to put some recyclables into the regular trash. That may be a little over-the-top, but it is quite an incentive to participate. :-)

Posted 5 months ago #
howatzer

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I think that if the council's going to consider the Dirty MRF, then they should probably take the Texas Chilli Bone into account, and possibly the Hot Carl as well.

Posted 5 months ago #
howatzer

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mfreeman said:
Actually, I think the recycling containers are supposed to be smaller (65 gallon) than the current green garbage bins (90 gallon). Source).

I currently pay Rumke about $8.25 per week to pick up an 18 gallon container, and the only plastic they accept are bottles. It is pretty lame.

It would cost the city about $1 per month per household for the proposed program.

Aside from the financial considerations, it is just the responsible thing to do. My parents live in NJ, and they have mandatory recycling. Not only does the city pay for the program, it is illegal to put some recyclables into the regular trash. That may be a little over-the-top, but it is quite an incentive to participate. :-)

Yeah, so I'm worried that Bi-weekly pickup with a 65-gallon container isn't going to cut it. We, and most other folks I know, have a higher volume of recyclables that trash. We overflow the weekly rumpke bins.

I'm also skeptical of this in the U District, where it's hard enough to get the kiddies to put trash in the cans, let alone separate out their empties.

I wish Ohio had a 10 cent can/bottle deposit. You'd never see an empty on the ground again.

BTW - You're getting screwed on your rumpke rates - in the city we pay about $14/month for pickup. And they have almost always taken our overflow - as long was we collapse boxes. They also seem to take more than plastic bottles - the sheet we have says they'll take any recyclable plastic.

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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howatzer said:
I'm also skeptical of this in the U District, where it's hard enough to get the kiddies to put trash in the cans, let alone separate out their empties.

This program is only for single family homes to start, which I think would exclude a lot of off-campus student housing. Apartment buildings would still be using drop off locations for now.

Full details of the program, here: http://www.columbusunderground.com/details-announced-on-columbus-curbside-recycling-program

Posted 5 months ago #
Twixlen
Westgate, Columbus
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The recycling containers should be at least twice as big as the garbage bins. When they were asking for feedback from everyone on that survey, I thought that was part of the results they'd gotten, so I'm confused if they're implementing something different.

Also. It can't be said enough that other cities do this, bigger cities, cities with more space limitations at the curb than we have... and they've been doing it for decades. It makes me crazy that there seems to be so much hesitation on behalf of the city AND consumers involved in the process. It just ain't that hard.

Posted 5 months ago #
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Just to recap...

1. Recycling can be easily worked into the city budget (around $4M per year into a $735M budget).

2. Recycling is rolled out to 100% of all 227,000 households in Columbus. Huge improvement over the opt-in rate of around 5% participation.

3. City of Columbus saves around $1 million per year if 6.2% of landfill waste can be diverted due to recycling (note: that $1 million per year would be going to SWACO, so they have a financial interest in as much trash going to the landfill as possible).

4. Rumpke adds around 30 new jobs due to new recycling program.

Obviously, our best option is to do nothing.

Posted 5 months ago #