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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/03/1986 - Solid Waste Abatement CommissionCITY OF EAGAN SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION AGENDA WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 1986 4:30 P.M. I. ROLL CALL AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES II. OLD BUSINESS A. Review of Compost Awareness Survey Results B. Recommendation of Additional Members III. NEW BUSINESS A. Solid Waste Abatement Concepts IV. OTHER BUSINESS V. ADJOURNMENT MEMO TO: SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION MEMBERS FROM: ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT HOHENSTEIN DATE: AUGUST 27, 1986 SUBJECT: SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION MEETING FOR SEPTEMBER 3, 1986 A meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, September 3, 1986, at 4:30 p.m., in the Eagan Municipal Center Conference Rooms A and B. Please contact Jon Hohenstein at 454-8100 if you are unable to attend this meeting. The following discussion is intended to provide background on those items to be reviewed at the meeting on Wednesday. I. MINUTES A copy of the minutes of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission meeting of August 20, 1986, is enclosed for your review on page(s)_These minutes, subject to any change, require approval by the committee. II. OLD BUSINESS A. Review of Compost Awareness Survey Results - At the direction of the Commission, Staff has undertaken a brief telephone survey of area residents to gauge awareness of the City compost program, recycling services and the City clean-up promotion. A list of area residents was randomly selected from the City's utility billing list. Staff has been directed to target between 50 and 100 persons for responses. At the preparation of this memo,'the survey is underway but not yet completed. Results of the survey will be made available to the Commission at its Wednesday meeting. A copy of the survey form is attached on page r., ____ _ for your review. The results of the survey may be used to help find the promotional strategy the Commission would like to follow with respect to the current waste abatement alternatives. In the past, the City has advertised its waste abatement activities in the local newspapers, the City Newsletter, church bulletins, postings at retail establishments, compost site flyers and local cable television. The City has yet to utilize paid advertising, mailings through local utilities, direct mail programs or in - school educational promotions. There are also alternatives not listed here which may be considered for publicity. Commission members may provide additional input in determining the best means to publicize the various elements of the City's current solid waste abatement effort. Staff will provide examples of publicity in materials used to date to promote this and other programs. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: To provide direction to Staff in promotions for current solid waste abatement activities. B. Recommedation of Additional Members - Since the last meeting, one additional hauler has expressed interest in serving on the Solid Waste Abatement Commission. That individual is Mr. Duane Soutor of Action Disposal System. His application for membership is being held by the City Administrator's office until the publication of the next City Newsletter, in which the availability of additional appointments to the Solid Waste Commission is advertised. The City will entertain letters from interested parties through the end of September and the City Council will make additional appointments to the Commission at its October 7 meeting. Current members who know of individuals who may be interested in serving on the Commission may make such persons known to the City at this time. Those individuals should be asked to forward a letter to the City indicating their interest and their relationship to solid waste abatement, either as a citizen or a business. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: Recommendations of additional members to the Solid Waste Abatement Commission may be made at this time. III. NEW BUSINESS A. Solid Waste Abatement Concepts - For purposes of this business item, please refer to your Solid Waste Abatement Staff Report pages 6 through 13. This section covers the basic concepts and alternatives available to the community for waste abatement. The Commission will review each of these conceptual alternatives to provide groundwork for its consideration of possible waste abatement strategies. To provide additional background in this area from an industry periodical, Larry Knutson has provided the excerpts from "Waste Age" for your review. These copies are included in your packet on page(s) - -U Specific proposals and detail work on certain alternatives will be the subject of future Commission meetings. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: This item will provide background to the Commission and no action is required on it at this time. IV. OTHER BUSINESS V. ADJOURNMENT The committee will adjourn at or about 6:00 p.m. Adupistrative Assistant��Tv cc: City Administrator Hedges City Planner Runkle J H/mc MINUTES OF SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION Ragan, Minnesota August 20, 1986 A regular meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Committee was held on Wednesday, August 20, 1986, at the Eagan Municipal Center at 4:30 p.m. The following members were present: Larry Knutson, Earl Milbridge, Tom Mann and Jon Hohenstein. Absent were Darlene Barr and Delmer DeBilzan. Also present was City Administrator Tom Hedges. ROLL CALL AND. WELCOME City Administrator Hedges welcomed the committee members and provided a brief description of the duties and expectations of the Commission appointees. He indicated that the Commission members were chosen for their expertise and interest in the area of solid waste abatement. He described the parameters of the City Council charged to the Commission to develop a solid waste abatement strategy for the City of Eagan. OVERVIEW OF SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION PURPOSE Administrative Assistant Hohenstein provided a brief review of the state law and Metropolitan Council guidelines which require source separation of solid waste. He indicated that the disposal of mixed municipal solid waste in sanitary landfills will be prohibited in 1991. While the disposal of certain materials in landfills will continue, it will be necessary for waste producers to remove glass, aluminum, newsprint, corrugated cardboard, high grade office paper and yard wastes from the waste stream through voluntary or mandatory efforts by 1988. He indicated that the Commission has been asked to develop its strategy within the parameters of the deadlines above and the county solid waste master plan currently in preparation. Administrative Assistant Hohenstein then introduced a draft mission statement for the City of Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission. Commission members reviewed the statements but indicated that it would be -more appropriate to take action on it when all members could be present. Following such discussion, upon motion by Knutson, seconded by Milbridge, _all members voting in favor, action on the mission statement of the Solid Waste Abatement Commission was continued to a future meeting. STAFF REPORT REVIEW The Commission next discussed several elements of the current solid waste abatement activities in the community and the Solid Waste Abatement Staff Report. Mann indicated that education and publicity would be an essential element in the development of the solid waste abatement strategy and indicated that community awareness of the compost program could be improved. The members suggested a brief telephone survey to determine community awareness of the compost program, City clean up day and recycling alternatives. Results of the survey will be reviewed at the next Solid Waste 4. Abatement Commission meeting. The Commission indicated that a conserved effort to publicize the compost program, clean up day and recycling alternatives be made immediately after the study is completed to improve community use and awareness of the waste abatement alternatives through the fall. The Commission indicated that it was important to focus on publicizing the compost program as a test case for waste abatement in the community. INITIAL MEETING SCHEDULE The Commission tentatively scheduled its next 2 meetings at two week intervals. The meetings are to be on Wednesday, September 3, 1986 at 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday, September 17, 1986 at 4:30 p.m. Both meetings will be held at the Eagan Municipal Center. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL MEMBERS Administrative Assistant Hohenstein indicated that the current Commission appointments consist of 6 members representing various community perspectives. Up to 3 more Commission members may be apointed, preferably one private citizen, one refuse hauler and one representative of the Public Service Organization. Administrative Assistant Hohenstein requested that Commission members give consideration to acquaintenances who may be interested in serving on the Commission. Recommended individuals should make their interests known to the City Administrator's office and the City Council will consider them for appointment to the Commission. The Commission suggested that press coverage of the beginning of their deliberations be encouraged and that such media coverage include a reference to the need for additional members. ORGANIZATIONAL BUSINESS Administrative Assistant Hohenstein reviewed the possibility of the Commission electing a chairman to lead discussions and act as facilitator at Commission meetings. The Commission indicated that it would prefer to take up that item in the future when all members might be present to participate in the decision. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:45 p.m. JDH Date SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT AWARENESS SURVEY Hello, this is calling from the City of Eagan. Do you have a couple of minutes to answer 3 questions about waste abatement. (If not, ask if you can all back at a better time as the City is very interested in their response). 1a. Are you aware that the City of Eagan operates a free compost program for leaves, garden wastes, and grass clippings on Saturdays from noon -6:00 p.m., just south of City Hall? (If no, repeat Yes hours, location & materials). (If yes, do #1b.) No 1b. If so, have you used the site to dispose of com- Yes post materials? No 2a. Are you aware of other recycling opportunities available in or around the City of Eagan? (If Yes yes, do #2b) No 2b. If so, which recycling services do you use? Goodwill Contract Beverages Scout Groups Church Groups Other (describe) 3a. Are you aware of the City Clean -Up and Recycling Days held at City Iiall in the spring and fall? Yes (If yes, do #3b,) No 3b. If so, have you ever disposed of recyelables or other materials at the Clean -Up and Recycling Yes Days? No Thank you for your time and if you have any questions about recycling or compotng, please contact Jon Hohenstein at City Hall and the phone number here is 454-6100. ;i!lEditor9s Desk Recycling has a future It all comes down to mar- kets. And, in the famed Wall Street advice of J. P. Morgan, markets will fluctuate. Based on that, we believe that someday in the future— the sooner the better for all concerned professional waste managers and recy- cling advocates will be in the same comer. For now, however, they are sharply divided. While some of the less -intellec- tually -honest proponents of recycling are claiming that 40%, 60%, or even 80% of a given city's trash can be reclaimed and reused, waste managers (haulers and city officials) are finding it diffi- cult to truly recycle quan- tities approaching 10% without losing money. BY "truly," we mean collect the stuff and sell. it, too. Until someone buys and reuses a thing, it has not been recycled. Those crazy high -per- centage projections have pro- duced sad ends. Consider Minnesota, which wants to ban landfills. Its biggest city, Minneapolis, has sharply cur- tailed its recycling effort because it drained from $150,000 to $300,000 annually from the treasury. Then there's New Jersey. While legislators debate a law making recycling manda- tory, officials in several pro- gressive communities are cutting their pioneering efforts back. This in a state where (a) less than two years of existing landfill capacity exists, and (b) waste -to -energy plants will not be on-line for at least three years ... You could say we picked the worst cases above. Truly New Jersey state officials have exceeded all others in avoiding making the hard decisions. Minnesota has done at least one crazy thing: ban- ning waste tire landfilling without providing an alter- nate disposal means. As a result, every unrecappable tire taken from a car or truck in the state this year has gone to a stockpile! But there are "best cases'; we think we've presented two of them in this issue, in Cliff Ronnenberg and Gary Petersen of California. These gentlemen have staked a good part of their financial well-being on making a go of recycling. In interviews with each, the same sentiment was repeated: "the market is killing us." In fact, a per- centage of the material each has handled in the past two Years has been sold at a loss; that, of course, amounts to a subsidy of recycling by these.. two for-profit companies. ' Note that neither Petersen, the retailer, nor Ronnenberg, the wholesaler, has aban- doned the recycling business. They've heard about this Morgan fella, and they believe what he had to say. M Many advocates of boosting recycling to unrealistic per- centages do so because they either want to avoid siting the next landfill or to kill off a proposed waste -burner. We don't think recycling should have its image sullied by such people. Recycling has a part to play in any waste management scheme, right in there with landfilling a and incineration—when it is economically feasible. Given the current market conditions, such a statement is taken by some to be a non -endorsement of recy- cling. These folks have a short memory, and an even shorter attention span Markets will fluctuate. The Price paid for waste paper Will be higher than it is today; it also may be lower. The same is true for all other recyclables. What's more, at long last the price of waste disposal is going up! New Subtitle D regulations, which EPA is Promising will significantly alter the way refuse is land- filled, will raise the cost of that option. And if You figure in federal tax reform's ton tax rata Qf 27% (reducing the appeal of municipal bonds) and the likelihood of continUe lowpx (under $28 a barrel, at least) oil prices_ cutting the amount Plant operators are paid for energy, you can project future resource rarnvaW 21=t tipping fee incr� eat, When a waste disposer can save money by recycling, he should (and no doubt will) consider that evaluating recycling's economics. Therefore, even without higher prices paid for recycl- ables, recycling is likely to be a big hit in the 1990s. That's no reason for cities or haulers to get into the busi- ness in a big way today, It is, however, a stimulant for Professional waste managers to look hard at the equip- ment and strategies currently used in this country and in others, and to perhaps "tip- toe" into recycling, to be ready for the future. — J.A.S. Waste Age/July 1966 51 News Breaks Coad. Minneapolis haulers see losses in recycling If you're considering a recy- cling program, your first question should not be "How much will I save?," says Chuck Kutter, president of Minneapolis Refuse, Inc. Kutter says the first ques- tions should be along the lines of "How much will this cost?," and "What's the rela- tionship between recycling and my refuse collection operation?" Kutter speaks from experi- ence. MRI, a consortium of 50 private hauling firms that collect refuse from about half of the city's residences (62,000 stops), participated for six months in the Minne- apolis Curbside Recycling demonstration project. Minneapolis first -looked at a recycling program in 1981, when annual disposal costs jumped from $1.6 million to $2.6 million. MRI was one of three participating con- tractors. From a financial point of view, recycling was unattrac- tive to the MRI consortium. According to a report on the city curbside recycling Project, submitted in 1984, Kutter's company paid out $43,622 between July and December, 1982 (about $46 a ton) and received revenues from the sale of newspaper, glass, aluminum cans, and steel cans of $29,731 (about $31 a ton). So according to the report, the company's net loss was Gas prices to drop Commercial natural gas prices will decline 18% over the next three years, according to George H. Law- rence, president of the American Gas Association This will have an impact on the prices paid for natural gas - 12 Waste ggWJaly1986 $13,891 (about $15 a ton). But Kutter alleges that the report understates expenses. He points out that only $82 is allocated for administrative costs; and nothing is listed for some other overhead costs. Because MRI was already established, Kutter says, these overhead costs were taken for granted and not delineated. "Ib be accurate, you should add $5 to $10 a ton to the expenses." If so, MRI's cost is closer to $55,000 for about 949 tons of recyclables collected; leaving a loss of roughly $25,000 over six months. Another point Kutter makes is that he used older trucks "which were made to look like new" The compa- ny's collection trailers were new, though. "If you are looking at a recycling program, you are looking at a $55 -a -ton cost, and that doesn't include Profit," he says. During the project, Minnesota Refuse serviced 18 neighborhoods or about 33,000 residents. The company collected the mate- rials on a once -a -month basis, using a two truck - trailer system, consisting of a single axle dump body truck towing a double axle trailer. Usually two employees col- lected material, but some- times three and four employees were needed. Collected materials were The bright side: the nat- ural gas 'bubble"—excess supply—will decline in size rapidly over the same period. The bubble is projected to be one trillion cubic feet by 1990; in 1985, it was 3.6 tril- lion cubic feet. a1 taken directly to the recy- clers. No employees were involved in separating the materials. Despite the economics, MRI submitted a proposal in December, 1982, to extend the recycling contract. Under the proposal, the company's recycling service would have been linked to a five-year refuse collection contract. The city's fee for recycling would have been increased to $20 per ton (from the $17 a ton the company had received}—with the company responsible for promotion The service would have been expanded city-wide (excluding pre-existing pro- grams) and included all colors of glass, cardboard, used motor oil, and car batteries. The company would prob- ably have broken even on the contract, Kutter says, but profit wasn't the point of the program. "The more you do for the city, the better off you are. By participating in the program, it would help guarantee our garbage con- tract. It's good public relations. "We make our livelihood on our garbage contracts, so, we figured, we didn't have to make a profit on the recy- cling program." Minneapolis rejected MRI's proposal for several reasons. City officials believed the city would be better served by multiple contractors with shorter contract terms, to increase the level of competi- tion; and that the recycling contract should be kept sep arate from refuse collection. " Since then, Minneapolis has expanded its recycling program to a city-wide oper- ation using other contractors. Due to low participation rates and low prices for recylcables, the program may be teetering on the verge of collapse (see the May Waste Age, page 16). Kutter, however, sees an Opportunity to pick up the Pieces. MRI placed what Kutter believes is a realistic bid for city-wide recycling collection again this year. Though contracts which began in June were given to other contractors, Kutter believes that given the bids (about $37 a ton), the city may yet come to his consortium. If the city does negotiate with the company, Kutter says, "we won't make a profit, but we aren't going to get into a losing proposition either." PEPCO subsidiary to join plant purchase An investment subsidiary of Potomac Electric Power Co.—the utility which has refused to burn refuse in its power plant boilers (see May Waste Age), may soon be a part owner of a planned 1,650 TPD refuse - burning plant in San Marcos, Calif The investor-owned utility will reportedly put up roughly $25 million, about half of the facility's total equity investment. Group goes under; insurance blamed The Truck Body & Equip- ment Association, based in Washington, D.C., told its members recently that it is dissolving itself primarily because it can no longer obtain insurance coverage at reasonable prices. Five Perspectives On a Hot Topic Recycling certainly is a hot topic right now, especially in ' cities, states, and regions where existing sanitary land- fills are nearing capacity and new solid waste disposal facilities .are not being sited quickly enough The following "forum" of sorts presents several interesting viewpoints on the subject, all of recent vintage, from agencies, individuals, and groups with a heavy stake in the future of recycling. The.View in Europe The following is an exact reprint of a press release issued on April 2 in Brussels by the Bureau Interna- tional de la Recuperation, the international recy- cling group. The headline on the release: `Huge Subsidised Waste Paper Stocks Undermine European Market" According to waste paper traders, the current system of collecting and stocking domestic waste paper is pre- cipitating a crisis in the industry similar to that caused by the European Community's agricultural policy. In 1984, the economic climate favoured the paper industry and this, in turn, increased the demand --at realistic price levels—for the secondary raw material: waste paper. In 1986, demand continues at a high level, but prices have plunged to a point that makes the commercial collection and sale of waste paper an uneconomic proposition The deterioration in this situation can be attributed to the increasing tendency of municipalities—and pri- vate companies employed by them to become involved in the collection of domestic waste paper. These activities are, to a large extent, subsidised by taxes paid by householders for the disposal of their refuse. To make matters worse, legal authorities often have to pay considerable sums to private organisations to remove the huge amounts of waste paper already col- lected. In the Federal Republic of Germany, for example, the local authorities continue to collect waste paper even though the demand for existing stocks is strictly limited. As a result, the usual supply channels are circumna- vigated, and the high taxes paid by the average citizen for the removal of his domestic waste are also leading to the suffocation of paper collections organised by charities and the recycling industry. If we Can't Do It ... Calvin Lieberman, quoted below, is the special assistant to the president for environment and legis- lation at the Institute of Scrap Iron and Steel These remarks were included in a presentation he made last year to a Conference on Materials Recycling sponsored by the New York State Legislative Commis- sion on Solid Waste Management The scrap industry has been so successful over the years in recycling millions of tons of materials, that we can understand the attraction to use this means to reduce disposal of wastes. However, one must carefully examine what "recycling" means, as well as just why all wastes cannot be and are not candidates for this approach First, one must realize that despite the best efforts of our industry to recycle just one important item, fer- rous, commonly called iron or steel, the last report by Robert R. Nathan Associates showed almost 744 million tons of iron and steel scrap available in the United States at the end of 1983. Add to that the enormous tonnage of 80,000 tons per day of ferrous, and we have over a 20 -year supply at the current rate of consumption Now here is an industry founded, and operating, solely within the recycling concept unable,to find a home for all of the available scrap iron in the country. Matched against that�situation is the proposal that "recycling" should be increased. What is really meant, I am afraid, is not "recycling" but "recovery" of materials, in the vague hope that they can be sold and remelted to make new products. The very important question therefore is, put simply: if we (the scrap industry) can't do it, then how can anyone Waste Age/July 1986 29 Recycling Contd. else do it? ... We should not gild the lily, you deserve better. At the moment and for the immediate future, recycling of materials will have minimal impact upon your landfill problems at best, and will be an expensive distraction of funds and attention at worst. We wish it were other- wise. — Calvin Lieberman The POA Law Richard Keller, manager, procurement and waste managemen4 for the State of Maryland's Department Of Natural Resources' Energy ( ce, made the fol- lowing points in a longer presentation at the 1985 Solid Waste Forum sponsored by the Association of State and Teri itorial Solid Waste Management Officials Landfill capacity, siting, cost, and environmental factors, particularly in the Northeast, have caused many state and local officials to closely examine recycling as an alternative to landfilling. Such states as Pennsylvania and New Jersey are proposing dramatic increases in recycling rates and fundings for recycling programs. At the same time, however, recycling markets are at extremely depressed levels. This raises the important question of where will these materials go after they are collected? Without adequate markets, the cost of col- lecting the materials will most probably exceed the rev- enue derived from the sale of materials. One program to create markets is governmental pur- chases of recycled products, such as recycled paper.' Governments need a commitment to buying recycled products to assure effective recycling programs. To understand how to make affirmative procurement programs work, let me explain the PQA Law of Recy- cling. PQA stands for Price, Quality, and Availability. Any recycling program can be understood by PQA; as an example, a community recycling program must get a good price (P) for materials, must meet the vendors' quality (Q) specifications, and must have available (A) markets and be available to the public. In establishing an affirmative procurement program for recycled materials, the price (P) must be competi- tive with virgin materials, the quality (Q) must be com- petitive, and the recycled products must be available (A) in the marketplace. Maryland, California and New York have managed successful programs for buying recycled paper products, and have found available recy- cied paper products which are comparable to virgin 30 Waste AgWuly 1986 lu Products in price and duality. Citizens Group's Questions A recent report from a citizen advisory group in Pennsauken 7bwnshiA Pa, on solid waste disposal options included the following section on recycling. The savings associated with recycling are derived from two sources: revenues obtained from selling the mate- rials, and savings realized by avoiding disposal fees at the landfill for the material that is recycled. To fully realize the aformentioned savings, the materials to be collected must be carefully selected and should possess two qualities: 1. They should have an interested and competitive buyer; 2. They should comprise a significant portion of the municipal waste stream to afford actual landfill savings when recycled. The only material currently satisfying both re- quirements is used newspaper, in that it represents approximately 8% of the municipal waste stream and has a market price of between $5 and $25 per ton. Pennsauken has done reasonably well when you con- sider that, as of September, 1985, used newspaper was being sold at only .25/100 weight. The Township is receiving approximately $6.50 per ton per month aver- aging August through October. When this figure is added to the cost avoidance figure (the dollars saved by not landfilling), Pennsauken is averaging approxi- mately $38 per ton in revenue. But it is costing Pennsauken $254 per ton per month to collect the used newspapers a deficit of $216 per ton per month. Pennsauken Township can- not be compared to other communities in tipping fee cost avoidance because of Pennsauken's host com- munity benefits ... Other recyclables Aluminum cans, on the other hand, comprise only 5% of the waste stream and offer no chance of disposal savings. However, at $600 to $800 per ton, this material is extremely valuable. Glass, which comprises up to 8% of the municipal solid waste, is the second most commonly recycled item Glass represents approximately 10% of the municipal waste stream, which would realize a signifi- cant disposal savings. Recycled glass has recently been affected by: Ir Recycling Contd. 1. Container manufacturer's switch to plastic for bev- erage containers. 2. An influx of green and amber crushed glass from container deposit states and foreign manufacturers. 3. A drop in the price of raw materials used in man- ufacturing of glass causing a greater reliance on virgin materials. The relatively steady price of glass has recently dropped and ranges between $5 and $35 per ton. Separating glass is recommended because of the damage it can do to the (waste -to -energy) facility. The removal of glass will increase the life of .the facility ... )lnally, an item that is extensively used is plastic. Plastics are manufactured from the raw materials of crude oil and natural gas. Many plastics are recyclable. The most commonly recycled plastic at the post con- sumer level is the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in one-, two-, or three -liter beverage containers ... There are a number of problems which must be overcome before the recycling of plastic becomes a commercially viable program .. . Pros and cons In looking at the pros and cons of recycling, consider the following: • 80% of the waste stream is generated by the household. By recycling, we could conserve our natural resources, reduce our waste stream, reduce our tipping fees at the landfill, and extend the life of the landfill, along with receiving funds from the state based on ton- nage delivered to a recycling facility. It must be noted that the monies received from the state of New Jersey are taxpayers' monies. • With recycling being mandated by the County of Camden and the County developing a recycling facility, the Municipalities would also benefit by sharing in profits at the recycling facility. This would also save time and money associated with marketing the recycla- bles, and will hopefully achieve a greater market sta- bility for municipalities. • On the other hand, by a glut of recyclables on the market, the cost return per commodity diminishes. Although the cost of separation and arty specialized . equipment should not be considered when the county's facility is operational (as they will handle that aspect), the cost of collection is still a major factor. It is the taxpayers' money which will be used to fund many of these projects. From June, 1985, to October, 1985, Pennsauken had a grand total opera- tional net loss (for recycling) of $41,901.72. 32 wasreAedray 1986 Nearby county loses money In certain areas some segment of recycling may be beneficial. Oregon, in 1984, recycled 75% of all of the newspapers in the state, and Colorado recycled 76% of all the aluminum cans sold... The percentages quoted are to be commended, but the paper in Oregon represents 8% of the waste stream; what of the other 92%? Again, Colorado recy- cled aluminum, which represents 5% of the waste stream, has the best market of all recyclables, and gives the best return on the dollar; but again, what about the remaining 950/6? Consider some of the counties in South Jersey. The seven counties, from Burlington to Cape May, had an average yearly loss on recycling of approximately $90,000 in 1982. Even Woodbury, the most quoted recycling community, had an operating loss of ap- proximately $19,999 in 1982. Other townships such as Berlin and Montclair, con- sidering all their aspects, had an operating gain of approximately $40,000 per year in 1982 ... Conclusion In the event the market is saturated with recycla- bles and the surplus must be warehoused, what happens over a period of time when the allotted space runs out? Who pays the cost of warehousing the surplus? Are the recyclables going to be landfilled back in Pennsauken? This is just what we are trying to avoid. Who pays. the cost of trucking the surplus to a landfill either in Pennsauken or somewhere else? ... We commend the state of New Jersey and the County of Camden for initiating a recycling facility and for taking the burden of establishing markets and buyers. Our concern is that despite our recycling pro- gram, the collection costs will continue to mount and the return of the dollar for the recycled goods will continue to drop due to the market surplus. This will determine the overall operating costs. In the event the communities continue to be in the red (negative cash flow), how long will the state allow townships to deficit spend? Haulers Are In Best Position Dr. Charles A Johnson, technical director of NSWMA, (Continued) Recycling COW. Presented a talk on `How Much Recycling Can We Afford?" to the 1986 Pennsylvania Recycling CO,4f ence. This excerpt is taken from his presentation Consider the economics of recycling. One question that is always asked is whether or not a saving in disposal costs should be credited for the recycling operation .. . (An example) of where it is questionable whether or not to credit the disposal savings is when the saving is hypothetical. Consider the case of a municipality oper- ating a landfill for which it charges a tipping fee of, say, $20 per ton. If that community were to institute a recycling program, would it be fair to credit the pro- gram with $20 per ton savings on disposal fees? The answer: probably not. With the typical reduc- tions in waste attainable with recycling programs, it is MR* that the community will realize an actual sav- ings in landfill costs in proportion to the reduced ton- nage. A reduction of a few percent in waste received is not likely to mean a reduction in work force, equip- ment required, closure costs, monitoring, supplies, or any of the other variable costs of landfill operation In fact, a recycling operation may reduce revenues to the landfill necessitating an increase in tipping fees to cover its operating cost. The one situation where clearly a saving in disposal fees can be credited to the recycling operation is the situation in which a waste collector is able to reduce his disposal costs by means of his recycling activity. This occurs in a situation where a collector is dis- posing of his collected wastes at a landfill at which he pays a posted gate fee, most likely based on tonnage. With a gate fee of $20 per ton, a hauler can save $20 for each ton of material which he is able to remove from the waste stream and sell as recyclable material. Of course, he will also consider the monies received from the sale of the recyclable material itself. Mti- mately, the solid waste hauler is probably in the best Position of any party to make recycling work. I 0 o o The Con tainer Handling System thaVsJ,,,,, 'O" i+"Oe.v or r*► '4WM=%—'W t & SAFER 2 ft/40 yd capacity container in P 1500 RPM s: driver never leaves the cab TILE ocks & pits: at angles up to 300 Marrel Hydraulics Division • Whittaker Corporation 260 West Main St., Suite 106B Hendersonville, TN 37075 • (615).822-3536 Whittakkeer AMPLIROLL® Dealer Inquiries Container Handling Systems Invited Circle No. 27 on reader service card WasteAgaljidy 19W 37 T. A Tale of Two Californians One focuses on the retail end of recycling; the other's a wholesaler. They share one thing: a commitment to the future. The recycling business begins when a consumer a buys a product or a con- tainer made of material that can be reused. Along the way, between the moment that consumer discards the item and its ultimate reuse; it must be skillfully col- lected, handled, processed, packaged, sold, and transported. In Southern California, people working for and with Gary Petersen's Ecolo-Haul and Cliff Ronnenberg's CR&R Inc. do a good deal of that "in between" work. Partially as a result of these two companies' commit- ment to recycling, residents there have been paid more during the recently concluded downturn in the market for recyclables than would have been the case. Petersen says his organization has pioneered many recycling programs. An environmental -minded indi- vidual who owned his own radio station at age 21, he decided sometime after Earth Day to start a company that would "do something positive for the environment and stand on its own two feet" The something positive accomplished by Ecolo-Haul, now 14 years old, is making the "retail" end of recy- cling work. The company specializes in collecting recyclables from consumers. Ronnenberg's commitment to recycling was born as a result of his ownership of Stanton Disposal, a waste hauling company. In the mid -Seventies, the company responded aggressively to Stanton officials' request that it offer some kind of recycling option to city residents. Less than a decade later, the recycling company (CR&R) has grown to a size that dwarfs Stanton Dis- posal and one other solid waste hauling company owned by Ronnenberg in sales volume. CR&R concen- trates on the "wholesale" end of recycling. Through the servicing of more than 100 area buy-back centers, com- By JOE SALIMANDO 13. mercial recycling efforts, brokering recyclables, and its Stanton drop-off center, CR&R gathers large quantities of recyclables for direct sale to end-users. `We've made the mistakes' Gary Petersen began his efforts in 1972, selling sub- scriptions for recycling pickups to affluent residents of Malibu and Santa Monica A homeowner there, for a fee of from $3 to $5 per month, could have an Ecolo- Haul truck stop at his home and pick up recyclables. That idea didn't take off, Petersen admits, but he adds that it wasn't as hard to sell as it may sound: "If you can sell radio advertising, you can sell anything." 'If you don't motivate, the people will throw it away' In the next two years, Ecolo-Haul got into drop-off centers (taking over units run unprofitably by non- profit groups); office paper recycling ("this was very lucrative," he remembers); and several curbside recy- cling experiments. The curbside effort, initially located within Los Angeles city limits, was hampered 12 years ago by a city scavenging ordinance. The ordinance divided the sidewalk into a public and a private side; materials left on the public side of the sidewalk were classified as refuse—and picking them up for recycling was a violation of the law. Petersen may well have seen it all. His 14 years of recycling experience, he says, include working to set up local operations in such far-flung sites as Boston and the South Pacific nation of Palau. "From having been involved in this so early, we have made all of the mistakes;" he notes. wasp AQe1Ju1y 1986 391 Recycling Contd. When it comes to recycling, Southern California means business. Clockwise, from right: A CR&R truck loaded with aluminum sits in the yard; a "bell" is hoisted for unloading by a Hiab crane; and Ecolo-Haul's Gary Petersen stands by his company's name. CI ECYC LING SERVICES DIAL RECYCLE What Ecolo-Haul is doing He is perhaps most proud of his role in helping Santa Monica (Calif.) city officials to design what is often called the most comprehensive municipal recy- cling effort in existence. Using a variety of techniques, including curbside pickup of recyclables in some neigh- borhoods, the city is able to salvage for reuse approxi- mately 400 tons per month out of a refuse volume of about 300 TPD. According to Petersen, Santa Monica residents not served by the curbside pickup program "do not have to walk more than one-eighth of a mile" from their front doors to the nearest recycling facility. One reason for that proximity is color -coded two -yard containers placed in alleys in the city. Glass, aluminum cans, .and newsprint can easily be deposited in these containers; in fact, at first, it was too easy. "The city had problems with scavenging, so they had to reduce the size of the openings in the containers," Petersen explains. "Now it's easy to drop the material off, but it's not so easy for someone to take it out" Some city residents pilfered the recyclables to sell them at the buy-back center Ecolo-Haul runs for Santa Monica on a contract basis. The company's experience has helped make maximum use of a relatively small space, which in turn has helped the center take in - 40 Waste Age'Jdy1986 4 additional funds from its handling of recyclables col- lected by a small pilot curbside effort now being tried by the city of Los Angeles. Interesting innovations A lot of what Ecolo-Haul is doing seems interesting, but much of it is old hat to Californians. Consider, for instance, the "reverse vending machine" concept for alw inunt cans, in which a machine dispenses cash for recycled aluminum While it is new to many parts of the country, it is a part of history to Petersen: he sold 45 machines installed in area shopping centers and supermarkets in another recycling enterprise to Rey- nolds Aluminum more than 12 months ago. "A lot of the things we do are attempts to formulate an integrated approach to recycling," says Petersen. "The recycling industry has been in what I call a Thir- ties -type depression. I may be a recycler, but in most respects I'm a hauler just like anyone who hauls refuse. I need to get X number of dollars every time I open my doors or my truck runs down the street, or I'm in a lot of trouble.' Even in this atmosphere, Petersen has continued to seek ways of increasing recycling rates. The most recent program is the use of `bells" designed especially for glass collection. The California Glass Recycling Cor - Redycling Contd. Bottle Bill Battle The mid -Eighties have seen and environmentalists semi California recyclers bathe to have sortie to a compro- more than just the decline in mise on the legislation prices paid for rnat.ernals. Under the compromise, he They have also been hard at says, the voluntary recycling work battiir�g 'bottle bill" leg- industry actually will get a ishtion whieh, they' say, boost. would have put them out of "Consumers will be able to business. get two cents back for each As uriginally proLA)sed, tltis can fiom drop -gaff centers anti -litter legislation would operated by c:ompwdes like have been similar to a law none, instead of bringing passed earlier in New lurk [hem Nwk Lo, the grocery state. There, a five-ceatt sissy," says Petersen "Tl -ds deposit on beverage bottles actually witl stimulate acu oty and cans stimulates citizens at our centers; and lead to to bring their empty con.- recycling of other materials. tamers back to the po4-it of `One convincing argaurunt purchase. that we macre in favor of this In California, that. ►would bill was that 60",4) of the glass have meant the death. of tete sold to comsumers cines not voluntary recycling industn', contain beverages. We'll get a Gary Petersen of Ecolo-Haul lot more glass by going claims, through recycling centers Saws Petersen: 'When You unarm New 4crk gets Glie way take alurninum away from it goes about it—and well recyclers, which tills till recycle a lot more newsprint, would have done, you take lawn chairs, and other mate - away uur biggest cash drop. rials as well." If I can't eo lect and make _"hat's inure, the bill des - money on aluminurn, I can't Vitiates 15"Mo of unclaimed collect other materials, beverage container deposit because aluminum is the funds to go for education commod'st.y for which we can and promotion efforts aimed. pay the consumer the most at further ralsiisg recycling money. rates. Another 155b of "We recyclers believed drat unclaimed funds win be ear - if you take the alutrtinuln marked for litter cleanup and away, we would get a lot 'less litter public awareness newsprint and non -beverage programs. glass. The result would have As of tlds ttTitlitg, it been disastrous; many, if not appears that the compromise most, of the buy-back: cen- legislation will pass and be ters would have closed signed by the governor. down." Reports from California ittcli- Petersen is quoted there ire cute opposition to the pro - the past tense because the posed law has now virtually state's voluntary recyclers disappa;arcd. — J.A.,S, poration imported this concept from Europe. Their distinctive shape is one advantage. Another is the quick collection process: with the skillful use of a Hiab crane (installed on a GM Astro truck), the bottom drops out of the bell and cans and bottles fall into the 44 Waste Age%July 1986 proper bin in a recycling truck. "We can take these bells and put them in a grocery store parking lot," says Petersen. "They don't look like a refuse container, so we won't get plain old garbage thrown into them; and they i ,adt. _ for convenient re cling. It's fabulous" 'The strong dollar hurt' Cliff Ronnenberg's company moves massive volumes of recyclables; how does more than 1,000 tons a month of aluminum alone sound? Using two HRB 10 balers, CP can flatteners, various pieces of yard equipment from Caterpillar, Peterbilt and GM tractors, Bemars trailers, and Fairbanks scales, CR&R usually is able to deliver recyclables to end-user customers only a few hours after they were brought to the company's Stanton processing site. "It's a high-volume, low -margin business," says the owner. "In order to make it work, we have to be very competitive. We place a high value on service—and we pride ourselves on being a full-service company, to all customers. Someone with 10 or 20 pounds of cans who drives in here in his car is just as welcome as a commercial account who sells us 100,000." As noted above, CR&R grew out of Stanton Dispos- al's need to establish a local recycling center in the mid -Seventies. The Stanton center, a pioneering effort when it was established, is still open to the public; recyclables dropped off at the site are moved by fork- lift a few hundred feet over to the HRB 10 balers. Back in the Seventies, Ronnenberg's vision tran- scended Stanton's borders. He saw opportunity in becoming the fellow who coordinated all of the small Sou q There's In a yep electrici oil. And Of values Resou Inc. is oz loads from other such centers that were springing up money i and gave them good service. firm Prc "These small centers need two types of service that Ha hoist Half of it we provide," he explains. "First, they have little or no system; storage space. They rely on us to schedule our pickup system st service to fit their needs—usually within 24 hours." The I "Second, they can be marginal operations, finan- equipmei cially—especially in the environment we've had for the duct line past two years. So we pay them quickly, something we knuckle E can do thanks to our IBM computer. Checks are in the start the mail within 24 hours for aluminum that we have pur- from the chased-, for newsprint, we pay twice a month" onto twir The two 1 CR&R takes the long view czirry the feeders th, For an unspecified period CR&R was sending out HAMMF.A checks that might have been a little fatter than market Shredders prices for recyclables justified. And Ronnenberg is yrs sheer • shed cutl� grates con IShreddi manageab Recycling Contd. always sure to get the best market price: his company sells direct to U.S. users and also exports. But for that low-priced period, Ronnenberg was, essentially, subsidizing some of the 100 or so recycling centers from which his trucks make pickups. "It has been financially brutal in the recycling market during 1984 and 1985," he says. "In my opinion, anyone who told you they were malting a profit in recycling was not giving you the straight story. We know, because we've made a profit in prior years in this business. "But prices paid for the materials in this recently concluded period were so low that you could not make a profit—even us, even with our drop-off center, wholesaling, and brokerage operations. "We simply felt that we could not cut the price we paid to the recycling centers—the retailers—by as. much as the price we were being paid was cut. If we had, the volume of recyclables would have fallen off, dramatically. "Eventually, some of the centers would have closed. 46 Consumers would have gotten out of the recycling habit. If you don't motivate the people with an attrac- tive price for recyclables, they will throw the recyclable materials away. "So I guess you could say we took, and still take, the long-term view Our position was to keep the recycling centers up and running at significant volumes, even at a loss. We did this because we believe in the recycling business, we are committed to it as a company and as individuals. We believe the market will return, and we will once again be able to make a profit in this business." Ronnenberg's faith in the market has been well- . placed, he noted recently, as the market for recyclables has bounced back. Partially as a result of this commit- ment, he says, his company grew significantly during the down period. It is now handling 1,000 tons of alu- minum, 6,000 tons of newsprint, and 300 tons of glass per month through the drop-off center, brokering, and wholesaling operations.I SELCO HAS YOUR ANSWERS. Tackle your waste handling and recycling problems head on. Selco answers the need with quality balers, conveyors and compactors. Built rugged and reliable, sold and serviced by our nationwide dealer network. Call 800-447-3526 to learn more. BALERS. CONVEYORS. COMPACTORS. Selco Products, Inc. P.O. Box 406, Baxley, GA 31513 800-447-3526 (GA: 800-847-3526) or 912-367-4661 'SAH/ Circle No. 33 on reader service card It . N Ti Ti 9L st M Trends in Collecting Recyclables Pings of an NSWMA survey of municipal recycling reported in th " efforts is, part one of a two-part article. Next M: recycling program costs versus benefits. Many parts of the country are beginning to see a shortage of space to landfill municipal solid waste. This growing scarcity is Prompting some states to consider every option.that might avert a crisis. One option is to recycle waste materials. The poten- tial for recycling; however, will be severely constrained by persistently weak markets for recycled materials and Other problems attendant to re -using solid wastes. Many municipalities have encouraged and sponsored recycling programs for years. Today, however, munici- palities face state legislative directives to instigate a recycling program as an express part of their solid waste management plans. The municipalities in turn MY require their residents to participate in the recy- ding effort. Instituting an effective recycling program presents a series of problems and challenges to municipalities. . Enlisting public support and participation is one such challenge; perhaps even greater is that of securing a market for recyclables. Markets for secondary materials are notoriously erratic. Moreover, the demand may be controlled by one or a few users. In addition to assessing the volume of materials that they hope to recycle, municipal planners must also decide on the city's role in the recycling program beyond its instigation Will public participation will be required by local ordinance? Will collections will be made by a private contractor`? If so, will the contractor be solely responsible for both the marketing of mate- rials and the details of operations? Pettit is the research analyst in NSWMA's Technical Department. 11. ��.. _- Waste Age/July 1986 49 -IK 47- Where the city delivers regular trash service or elects to specify service for recyclables, planners must choose among other operating options: • whether collections should be made curbside; • whether they should coincide with regular trash servict'; • which materials will be recycled; • where they should be sorted, etc. The NSWMA survey To describe the experience of recycling in its various forms and its impact on waste management, NSWMA developed a questionnaire covering operations, markets, revenues, costs, and cost savings. The questionnaire was designed to capture all the Possible scenarios under which a recycling program might operate (see Table One). For instance, in case a recycler collected different materials on different schedules or in different areas, questions concerning volumes, revenues, prices, and collection methods were specific to each particular material. Only cost, employ- ment, and financial support data were reported for overall operations. One series of questions was specifically designed for curbside collections. Here, again, questions about the frequency of collection were specific to each material in case any were collected on different schedules. NSWMA asked each state's office of solid waste to identify the 10 or 12 most notable or successful pro- grams in that state. Twenty-eight states responded, Yielding 187 targets. Several more recycling programs were later added to this list. The recyclables to be discussed are limited to news - Print, aluminum, ferrous metal (tin cans), and glass. Corrugated and other kinds of paper were not consid- ered because sources for these recyclables are pri- Recycling Contd. Table One Overview of Respondent Recycling Programs marily commercial generators (Le., retail stores and office buildings). Newsprint, metals and glass constitute the common elements of most municipally instigated programs. Program design effectiveness One of the first distinctions to be made in describing residential recycling is whether or not curbside collec- tions are part of the program. Some programs simply set up drop boxes and/or col - 52 waste Agav y 1986 IV lection centers. This form of collection has two major advantages: its equipment, personnel and maintenance needs are minimal, and it generally leads to greater, quality control. Contributors are more likely to take greater care in sorting -and screening the materials. A consistently "clean" supply of materials is also easier to market. Conversely, a sole reliance on drop boxes and collec- tion centers can lead to lower participation and lower volume of materials; residents may be unwilling to both sort and deliver their items. Curbside collection, how- Total Financial Total Disposal Service Area Respondent Revenue Support Tonnage" Fee Population Hamburg, N.Y. 15,760 Yes 840 12.00 10,000 Burrington, R.I. 72,620 No 1,103 18.00 16,600 ✓ Dover, N.J. 8,500 Yes 260 11.00 15,000 Bowie, Md. 600 No 40 25.00 30,000 R` St. Cloud, Minn. 9,230 No 378 18.00 9,000 Boca Raton, Fla. 3,700 No 3,700 16.00 59,000 N. Palm Beach 9,700 No 403 16.00 17,500 Madison, Wis. 50,000 No 2,000 10.00 170,000 Burbank, Calif. 250,000 No 5,816 6.50 87,000 Grand Rapids, Mich. 121,750 No 3,387 10.50 500,000 Sunnyvale, Calif. 199,990 Yes 3,249 30.00 113,000 Austin, Tex. 99,450 No 2,282 3.00 100,000 Montclaire, N.J. 153,829 Yes 3,089 11.00 38,000 Roxbury, N.J. no resp. No 614 33.00 19,000 Mecklenburg, N.C. 33,102 No 976 6.00 428,000 Palo Alto, Calif. 244,082 Yes 5,394 11.50 56,000 EI Paso, Tex. no resp. No 1,275 4.50 425,000 Islip, N.Y. 349,715 Yes 10,000 1.4.00 320,000 Monroe County, Pa. 20,650 Yes 335 34.50 70,000 Tift County, Ga. 6,300 Yes 144 0 33,000 Springfield, Pa. 14,513 Yes 1,589 10.50 20,000 Boynton Beach, Fla. 51,000 Yes 1,399 16.00 44,000 Boscobel, Wis. 1,100 No 102 16.00 2,662 Gray, Maine 3,900 Yes 80 9.00 43,000 Guilford, Conn. 30,658 Yes 611 27.00 19,000 Rockford, III. 18,000 No 420 12.95 139,000 Montgomery County, Md. 380,100 No 12,670 31.00 190,000 Glastenbury, Conn. 14,507 No 905 16.45 27,000 Manitowoc County, Wis. 19,908 No 482 18.00 30,000 Wilkes Barre, Pa. 1,600 No 125 10.00 51,000 Croton -on -Hudson, N.Y 15,500 no resp. 850 17.00 35,000 W. Hartford, Conn. 61,200 no resp. 3,350 12.94 62,000 Wharton, N.J. 7,117 Yes 696 no resp. 5,485 Santa Rosa, Calif. 114,000 Yes 3,460 6.00 100,000 W. Palm Beach, Calif. .22,600 No 942 16.00 67,500 Peekskill, N.Y. 20,000 No 1,000 9.00 35,000 Groton, Conn. no resp. Yes 2,500 6.00 41,000 Warren County, Mo. 2,317 No 80 10.50 15,000 Ridgewood, N.J. 34,000 no resp. 1,4.46 11.00 25,000 Lincoln Park, N.J. 5,718 Yes 255 no resp. 8,000 Santa Barbara, Calif. 129,950 Yes 4,870 16.00 150,000 Ann Arbor, Mich. 7,400 Yes 1,635 12.00 108,000 l Santa Monica, Calif. 50,230 Yes 15:10 no resp. 89,000 Tor newsprint, aluminum, tin cans, and glass. Data source: NSWMA research marily commercial generators (Le., retail stores and office buildings). Newsprint, metals and glass constitute the common elements of most municipally instigated programs. Program design effectiveness One of the first distinctions to be made in describing residential recycling is whether or not curbside collec- tions are part of the program. Some programs simply set up drop boxes and/or col - 52 waste Agav y 1986 IV lection centers. This form of collection has two major advantages: its equipment, personnel and maintenance needs are minimal, and it generally leads to greater, quality control. Contributors are more likely to take greater care in sorting -and screening the materials. A consistently "clean" supply of materials is also easier to market. Conversely, a sole reliance on drop boxes and collec- tion centers can lead to lower participation and lower volume of materials; residents may be unwilling to both sort and deliver their items. Curbside collection, how- M c- rth ever, presents residents with a more convenient oppor- tunity to participate. Survey results indicate a schedule of curbside collec- tion is practically essential to achieve high levels of participation Of 13 responding municipalities that require participation, all provide some sort of curbside collection, and all but two reported a participation rate among househlds at or above 50%. Even without being required, participation is rela- tively high where curbside collection is available. Though none of the reported rates approach the 80% and 90% levels occasionally found where participation is mandatory, 26 voluntary programs with curbside col- lection reported an average 33% participation Assuming that recyclables account for an average 25% of residential waste, one-third of households recy- cling one-fourth of their wastes would result in an -8% reduction in the waste stream coming from the service area. Any greater reduction in the waste stream would probably require both curbside collection and an Table Two Components of Respondent Recycling Programs aggressive campaign to enforce mandatory participation Sorting Another distinction to be made in planning or describing residential recycling is that of how the recyclables are sorted from one another. Santa Rosa, Calif., residents are provided with a special container for each type of recyclable material; residents them- selves sort their items as newsprint, metals and glass. In Islip, N.Y., recyclables are placed collectively. News- print; aluminum, tin, and glass are placed curbside in a Wecontainer, and sorted at a municipal facility. The relative ease with which residents can simply sort recyclables from non-recyclables would seem to encourage participation The responsibility for sorting recyclables from one another, however, will not be the overriding considera- tion of a resident in his decision to participate. The reported participation rate in Santa Rosa (70%) is in 'For newsprint, aluminum, tin cans, and glass. . Data souma: NSWMA research Waste AgWJay 1966 53 Frequency of Participation Rate Materials Curbside "Same Day" % Reduction Respondent Voluntary Required Collected` Collection Collection Waste Stream Hamburg, N.Y. 98 NP,GL weekly Yes 17 Burrington, R.I. 35 NP,GL monthly Yes 13 Dover, N.J. 7 NP weekly No 3 Bowie, Md. 1 GL weekly No 0.2 St. Cloud, Minn. 44 NP,GL,AL monthly NO 8 Boca Raton, Fl, no response NP weekly No 12 N. Palm Beach 20 NP weekly Yes 5 Madison, Wis. 25 NP weekly yeS 2.5 Burbank, Calif. 50 NP,GL,AL bi-weekly Yes 13 Grand Rapids, Mich. 10 NP,GL,AL,TN bi-monthly No 1 Sunnyvale, Calif. 42 NP,GL,AL weekly Yes 6 Austin, Tex. 50 NP,GL,AL weekly Yes 4.5 Montclaire, N.J. 80 NP,GL,AL bi-weekly No 16 Roxbury, N.J. 85 NP,GL,AL monthly Yes 7 Mecklenburg, N.C. 18 NP,GL,AL weekly Yes 0.5 Palo Alto, Calif. 65 NP,GL,AL,TN weekly Yes 19 EI Paso, Tex. 5 NP, (AL,TN) biwkly(bimonth) No '0.6 Islip, N.Y. 30 NP,GL,AL weekly No 6 Monroe County, Pa. 52 GL,AL weekly Yes 1 Tift County, Ga. 60 NP bi-weekly Yes 1 Springfield, Pa. 65 NP,GL,AL,TN weekly Yes 15 Boynton Beach, Fl. no response NP, AL none : N/A 6 Boscobel, Wis. 60 NP,GL,AL,TN bi-monthly NO is Gray, Maine NP,GL none N/A 4 Guildford, Conn. NP,GL,AL none N/A 6.5 Rockford, Ill. 2 NP weekly Yes 0.7 Montgomery County, Md. 50 NP weekly No 12.5 Glastenbury, Conn. no response NP,GL,AL none N/A 6.5 Manitowoc County, Wis. - 30 NP monthly NO 3 'For newsprint, aluminum, tin cans, and glass. . Data souma: NSWMA research Waste AgWJay 1966 53 Recycling Contd. fact much higher than in Islip (30%). This is particu- larly surprising, considering that participation in Islip is required by local ordinance while in Santa Rosa it is not. Scheduling, containers, service crews' Santa Rosa's success could be attributed to its pickup schedule—sorted recyclables are collected on the same day as regular trash service. This schedule is easy to remember and doesn't require the resident to place materials more frequently than usual. Same-day collec- tion apparently does make a difference: among 13 required -participation programs, the average rate is 76.5% (n-5) for programs with a same-day schedule and 41% (n 8) for those without. Among voluntary pro- grams, the respective average rates are 36% vs. 26%. One of the last and, for some, the most important distinction of a recycling program is that of whether collections are made by the municipality, a private con- tractor, or a volunteer group. In our data set of 44 respondents, 28 programs use municipal crews, 12 use a private contractor and four use a volunteer group. Which is the lowest -cost service provider? That's part of the much larger issue of privatization in general. Common sense, however, suggests that crews familiar with the service area will perform most effectively. Most respondents indicated collections were made by the same municipal crews or private hauler responsible for regular trash service. Markets and prices Marketing recyclables is at least as important to a recy- cling program as the arrangement under which mate- rials are collected. Residential recyclables are a low - value commodity. The prices they command normally will not exceed those for primary raw materials. As a rule of thumb, recycling is justified only if the revenues generated, together with the "avoided disposal costs" a community would have otherwise paid, are at least as great as the cost of collection, processing and marketing. Otherwise, the program will require some sort of subsidy—a direct grant or indirect support from of a general public works budget. The variable and generally unpredictable nature of prices for recyclables undermines the accuracy of esti- mates for future revenues. An important consideration in judging the viability of a recycling program is whether a secure market can be found. A legal con- tract guaranteeing the purchase of secondary materials over a specified term is a notable feature of any recy- 54 Waste Age Juk 1986 '),4 cling operation Newsprint Of the 41 survey respondents that collect newsprint, 2 indicated that they had executed some sort of contract with a buyer. Generally, these contracts are written to last from one to five years; most specify that the buyer will pay the prevailing market price. Some contracts guarantee a floor price regardless of the market's actions. The average tonnage of newsprint collected in 1984 by the survey's respondents was 1,536 tons. The average price for newsprint most recently received was $28.55/ton The highest price was $60/ton in California and the lowest was $14/ton in New Jersey. None of the respondents reported paying any price to residents. Recyclers of newsprint with contracts apparently do not tend to receive a significantly different price than those without. The average prices respectively were $29.59/ton and $29.91/ton In the cases of glass and metals, so few respondents operate with a supply con- tract it is difficult to compare averages and judge whether supply contracts tend to "lock in" prices. Glass The average tonnage of glass (all colors) collected by the survey's respondents in 1984 was 387 tons. The average price most recently received for mixed glass b� all respondents was $24.80/ton Color -sorted glass, particularly clear glass, generally commands a higher price; four respondents indicated that they received between $38 and $45 per ton. Whether the recycler should go to the expense of sorting glass to obtain the premium will depend on the relevant prices, volumes and costs. Similarly, whether residents should be asked to color -sort the glass themselves will depend on the rev- enue to be gained compared to any participation that might be lost and all costs that would be incurred. Aluminum Recycled aluminum is the highest -valued commodity of all the secondary material's typically collected from resi- dential sources. Aluminum is also a small fraction of municipal waste. Nevertheless, because of its relatively high market value, aluminum is included in most municipal programs. Recycled aluminum's relatively high value is due largely to the high cost of mining and processing alu- Cc HE R( is YC s( Recycling Contd. minum ores. The smelting of aluminum demands vast amounts of energy and large investments in capital equipment. Aluminum recycling, however, demands only enough capital and energy to collect, clean and remelt the material and reshape it to specifications. Twenty-five of the 41 respondents indicated that they collect aluminum for recycling. FIve of these operated under a supply contract for the recycled aluminum. The average was $536 per ton. One recycler reportedly paid residents for their alu- minum at a buy-back center. Such an arrangement is not uncommon—particularly among commercial recy- clers operating independently of any municipal support or directive. The average amount of aluminum recycled by the respondents in 1984 was 16.5 tons. Though this would seem to have little effect on the conservation of landfill space, the revenues generated help support the recy- cling of newsprint and glass. Tin cans Tin (bi-metal) cans are not a primary target of residential recycling. Nevertheless, nine of 41 respondents recycled tin cans. In four of these cases the metal is either deposited at a drop box or placed curbside mixed with aluminum materials. The metals are separated later. The average tonnage in 1984 was 100 tons. An average price for recycled tin cans may be some- what misleading. In four cases the material was simply given away. In three cases the price received was either $55 or $60 per ton and in one case the price was $5 per ton Revenues from recycled tin apparently will not weigh heavily in the equation that describes the cost and benefits of any recycling program Still, the marginal benefit of including tin cans in recycling may exceed the marginal costs where aluminum is already being collected, where sorting metals is cheap or is done by residents, and where the materials can command a rea- sonable price. B0Strom9sAirw715E"orAi6r-710E . non - stop comfort for the long haul. AZn Ride. it out in style when there's a long P haul ahead. Bostrom gives you more `;4I, ?' comfort and more miles per day. And - here's why: Standard features include weight/height adjustment, fore and aft isolator, seat tilt, back recliner and lumbarsupport. Options include high back, armrests and suspension cover. The Air -715E is designed for cabovers and big conventionals; the 710E for smallercabs. 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