RE: [greenyes] Recycling Program Travail

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

Our mandatory programs also have had high rates of compliance (nearly 100%
as determined by studies of Peter Anderson in my own city), and, due to
economies of scale, low costs, with some cases where the cost is less than
the cost of collection/landfilling.

John Reindl
Dane County, WI 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Snyder, Mark [mailto:Mark.Snyder@no.address]
> Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 12:15 PM
> To: GreenYes
> Subject: RE: [greenyes] Recycling Program Travail
> 
> 
> It would seem the problem can be summed up right here:
> 
> "In Indianapolis, recycling is voluntary, and residents must 
> call the city or their contractor to sign up, and pay an 
> average $5 a month for the service."
> 
> In Minneapolis, one of the cities cited as having a 
> successful program, residents who participate in the curbside 
> program get a $7 per month credit on their garbage bills.
> 
> Mark Snyder
> Pollution Prevention Specialist
> Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Peter Anderson [mailto:anderson@no.address]
> Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 11:57 AM
> To: GreenYes
> Subject: [greenyes] Recycling Program Travail
> 
> 
> INDIANAPOLIS STAR
> Indy recycling could get kicked from the curb
> City may dump program due to low participation, cost
> 
> 
> By Tammy Webber
> tammy.webber@no.address
> May 5, 2005
> 
> 
> Indianapolis' struggling curbside and drop-off recycling 
> programs might be 
> eliminated to help trim the Department of Public Works' 
> budget, leaving 
> residents who want to recycle to fend for themselves.
> Participation in the programs is so poor -- and costs so high 
> -- that the 
> department must consider cutting them, department spokeswoman 
> Margie Smith 
> Simmons said Wednesday.
> She said the department also is considering ending waste 
> collection on 
> holidays, as well as reducing the frequency of trash collection. The 
> department will also look at whether it will continue 
> collecting leaves and 
> removing dead animals.
> Only about 3.5 percent of eligible households participate in curbside 
> recycling programs offered by the city and its contractors. 
> For most, it's 
> easier to throw everything away. Some residents take their 
> recyclables --  
> newspapers, cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastic -- to one 
> of 29 drop-off 
> sites, but that still ends up costing the city money, Smith 
> Simmons said.
> "In general, there doesn't seem to be the understanding of 
> the importance of 
> recycling within the community of Indianapolis," she said.
> Recycling reduces the amount of raw materials needed to make 
> goods -- it's 
> easier to make plastic from plastic, rather than from petroleum, for 
> example, and recycling lowers energy consumption. It also 
> preserves landfill 
> space and reduces the amount burned in incinerators.
> "If we're trying to present a positive image as a city of the 
> millennium, 
> this won't reflect positively on us," said Steve Benham, who 
> said he's one 
> of only two people who tote recycling bins to the curb every 
> week in his 
> Glendale neighborhood. "People already view us as backward."
> Indianapolis' situation, though, is similar to that of other 
> large cities in 
> the Midwest -- including Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland and 
> Columbus, Ohio --  
> where recycling efforts are floundering.
> Still, some large cities, including Minneapolis and San 
> Francisco, have 
> successful programs, and several Marion County suburbs have 
> programs in 
> which 30 percent to 80 percent of residents participate 
> because recycling is 
> mandatory or made simple.
> In Indianapolis, recycling is voluntary, and residents must 
> call the city or 
> their contractor to sign up, and pay an average $5 a month 
> for the service. 
> As a result, most residents don't bother.
> "...
> "...
> "...
> "...
> "...
> FOR FULL ARTICLE: 
> http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050505/NE
WS02/505050468/1008&template=printart