[greenyes] Recycling Program Travail

["Peter Anderson" <anderson@no.address>]

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.
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FOR FULL ARTICLE: 
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050505/NEWS02/505050468/1008&template=printart

_________________________
Peter Anderson, President
RECYCLEWORLDS CONSULTING
4513 Vernon Blvd. Suite 15
Madison, WI 53705-4964
Ph: (608) 231-1100
Fax: (608) 233-0011
Cell: (608) 698-1314
eMail: anderson@no.address
web: www.recycleworlds.net

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