[GreenYes] Re: NYC Recycling?

["JW Spear" <jw@no.address>]

I think this issue is a misunderstanding in a downward spiral. 
 
It is important to distinguish collection from disposal. If one sees
recyclables of any nature being deposited in a landfill or burned in an
incinerator the recycling law or ethic (depending on whether recycling
is mandatory or voluntary in your state) is being circumvented.
 
However, if ones recyclables are collected in a rear load or front load
collection vehicle, as is often the case with commercial accounts, it
does not automatically mean the vehicle is headed to a landfill. We have
many clients that use rear load or front load vehicles to collect
recyclables for transport to material recovery facilities. These
partially and fully automated loader vehicles are considerably more
efficient than the 'recycling trucks' of the late '80s and early '90s
and are preferred in many markets for recyclables collection.
 
JW.

J W Spear, Sr., P.E.

J Spear Associates
 325 West Vine Street
 Milwaukee, WI 53212-3605
 Telephone   (414) 263-5715 
 Facsimile    (414) 435-3110
 Mobile         (414) 687-0518
 Email jw@no.address
 http://www.jspear.com <http://www.jspear.com/> 

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  _____  

	From: GreenYes@no.address
[mailto:GreenYes@no.address] On Behalf Of Samantha MacBride
	Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 12:00 PM
	To: 'Pete Pasterz'; 'David Biddle'; 'Karyn Kaplan'; 'GreenYes'
	Cc: 'Grayson, Pat'
	Subject: [GreenYes] RE: NYC Recycling?
	
	

	This may be, but I must point out that all of "NYC" does not
deserve to be tarred with the same brush.

	 

	The Department of Sanitation collects over 700,000 tons a year
of paper, metal, glass, and plastic recyclables, in addition to
recycling organic and inert materials through other programs.  None of
this is landfilled; it is recycled properly.  I do not want anyone,
Michael Moore or otherwise, to get the impression that their efforts to
recycle at home or in public institutions in New York City are at all in
vain.   As stated in my first email, it is important not to make a few
street-side observations as a visitor to this town, and then go on to
draw citywide conclusions about what is going on here, or anywhere for
that matter.

	 

	As regards the private sector, we have a wide number of carters
here competing for commercial hauling contracts.  The way NYC laws are
written, City enforcement ends at the business generator.

	 

	Samantha MacBride

	Deputy Director, Recycling

	Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling

	New York City Department of Sanitation

	44 Beaver Street, 6th floor

	New York, NY 10010

	917-237-5674

	
  _____  


	From: Pete Pasterz [mailto:PAPasterz@no.address] 
	Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 12:44 PM
	To: David Biddle; Samantha MacBride; Karyn Kaplan; GreenYes
	Cc: Grayson, Pat
	Subject: Re: NYC Recycling?

	 

	Most skeptics and non recyclers I talk with cite variations of
this reason: "It all gets landfilled anyway, so why should I bother"

	 

	This is the exact issue that Michael Moore raised in his book
"Stupid White Men" on why he no longer recycles, due to his observations
in NYC.  Unfortunately, it is NOT just an East Coast or Urban
phenomenon.   I have collected a file of many trade and general media
reports from around the country on such incidents of dumping recyclables
over the last 5 years.   Most were from just a few companies, with one
being the predominant offender.

	 

	When I was the Vice President of the National Recycling
Coalition, I proposed a resolution which would ask 3 things of our
members:

	 

	1. To pledge to set policies in our organizations to not
knowingly landfill any items set out for us to recycle.

	2. To self report to our customer any internal discoveries of
unintentional landfilling, or that resulting from willful violations of
our policies.

	3. To publicly apologize for the incident and to outline the
steps we'll take to prevent it in the future.

	 

	Needless to say, this was NOT adopted.

	 

	The industry is paying a price for ignoring this, and no amount
of "rebranding" is going to regain the lost trust that this perpetuates.

	 

	 

	
  _____  


	From: GreenYes@no.address
[mailto:GreenYes@no.address] On Behalf Of David Biddle
	Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 11:52 AM
	To: Samantha MacBride; Karyn Kaplan; GreenYes
	Cc: Grayson, Pat
	Subject: dvorak - heuristic [GreenYes] Re: NYC Recycling?
	Importance: Low

	Samantha and Karyn-
	
	We see the same sort of thing here in Philly and I receive
numerous complaints about haulers "dumping" recyclables and/or seeming
to pick them up in the same truck as trash. Obviously, there is little
control over the private sector and their practices without stringent
enforcement policies in place. 
	
	In Philadelphia (and Pennsylvania as a whole) transfer
facilities that seek to separate recyclables from waste must have a
permit to process "mixed waste." This was tried by the industry for a
few years (there were three facilities so permitted in the Philadelphia
area in the mid-90s), but it was found to be wholly impractical and not
economic. Currently, we have no such facilities-and yet I still hear
often about haulers mixing waste and recycling in front- and
rear-loading trucks. Go figure...
	
	The key to solving this problem is writing good contracts
requiring haulers to provide separate collection systems and
documentation on how much material is recycled and where it goes-or,
better, contracting with one hauler for recycling and one for trash. We
have a document on our web site that provides guidelines on how to think
about and write contracts with waste and recycling service vendors . It
may be found at: 
http://www.greentreks.org/gpcrc/regulatory_toolsand.asp#sampledocs
	
	In the end, as far as I can tell, so far, facility managers and
business owners are not dictating the terms of service well enough. As
such, they suffer the consequences. We now offer a service to help
re-write contracts through new RFP processes for businesses and
institutions and also provide monthly support in managing programs and
interfacing with service providers.
	
	The lesson in all of this is that if businesses want "out of
sight out of mind," then they run the risk of putting the fox in control
of the henhouse. Forcing the industry to be accountable is the only way
to solve this problem.
	
	 David Biddle, Executive Director
	<http://blueolives.blogspot.com>
<http://blueolives.blogspot.com> 
	
	 
	         P.O. Box 4037
	    Philadelphia, PA 19118
	          215-247-3090
	          215-432-8225 (mobile)
	       Dbiddle@no.address
	
	     <WWW.GPCRC.COM>
	
	Read In Business magazine to learn about sustainable 
	businesses in communities across North America! 
	Go to: <http://www.jgpress.com/inbusine.htm>
	
	on 5/2/06 11:21 AM, Samantha MacBride at
smacbride.nycrecycles@no.address wrote:

	Dear Ms. Kaplan:
	 
	In New York City, businesses are served by private carters
operating in a free market, not by the City's Department of Sanitation,
which services residents and institutions, collecting three separate
streams: commingled paper of all kinds (board and paper); commingled
metal, and glass/plastic/beverage carton containers; and refuse.
	 
	Businesses are required to source separate recycling under Local
Law 87 of 1992.  Recycling requirements vary by type of business.  See 
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/recycling/recycling_businesses
.shtml for details.  
	 
	Under the current legal/institutional structure, City has no
control over the actions of privately contracted carters once the
businesses place source separated materials at the curb.  It is
certainly possible that carters collect refuse and bundled corrugated or
bagged paper in the same truck, without compaction, for post-collection
sorting.  In such cases it is perfectly feasible to separate paper and
board from black bagged refuse; the former going to recycling as paper
and board are valuable commodities on the secondary materials market.
Post-collection separation of commingled containers would be more
difficult.
	 
	In addition, if your friends are working in anything other than
a food service venue, then, as you will note, their commercial building
is not required to recycle commingled containers at all, due to the
relatively small amount of non-food service commercial waste streams
that consist of containers.  If they work hard to separate out such
containers, the carter has no responsibility to recycle them and most
probably will not, due to the small volumes involved.
	 
	If you are interested in learning more about NYC recycling in
general, there are a host of resources at www.nyc.gov/nycwasteless.  If
you are interested in the commercial waste stream in particular, you may
want to consult the Department's "Commercial Waste Management Study," at
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dsny/html/reports/cwms-ces.shtml
	 
	In any event, it is always important to bear in mind that when
you discuss New York City, or most cities/jurisdictions for that matter,
you are not speaking about one monolithic policy and service provider
for all residents, institutions, and businesses;  but about an array of
institutions, some of them public and others private; and a variety of
laws and programs.  San Francisco may be one exception in this regard,
served as it is by one private corporation for all collections,
residential, institutional and commercial.  On the other hand, in
contradistinction to New York, many cities, including Chicago and Los
Angeles, exclude multi-unit buildings from "residential" collection;
where as NYC collects the three streams mentioned above from all 8
million residents, regardless of dwelling type. 
	 
	What I can assure you, in regard to NYC, is that under the NYC
Department of Sanitation's recycling program that serves residents and
institutions, there are always two source separated streams of recycling
collected separately from refuse; and the notion that some recycling
goes into a refuse truck ultimately to be discarded as refuse is an
urban myth. For more reading on comparative municipal waste policy, you
may want to consult the following reports:
	 
	Processing and Marketing Recyclables in New York City
	 
	New York City Recycling In Context
	
	Also available at www.nyc.gov/nycwasteless 
<http://www.nyc.gov/nycwasteless> <http://www.nyc.gov/nycwasteless>  .
	 
	Good luck with your research,
	 
	 
	Samantha MacBride
	Deputy Director, Recycling
	Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling
	New York City Department of Sanitation
	44 Beaver  Street, 6th floor
	New York, NY  10010
	917-237-5674
	
	-----Original Message-----
	From: GreenYes@no.address [
mailto:GreenYes@no.address] <mailto:GreenYes@no.address%5d>
On Behalf Of Karyn Kaplan
	Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 10:35 AM
	To: GreenYes
	Subject: [GreenYes] NYC Recycling?
	 
	 
	I was in NYC recently and a few business people told me that
they work
	hard to prepare recyclables and then watch the packer truck come
and
	throw all the recycling in with the trash bags.
	 
	Can anyone shed any light on how NYC does it's recycling
collection and
	indeed is stuff getting recycled or does it all end up in the
packer
	truck, garbage and all?
	 
	Thanks-
	Karyn Kaplan
	University  of Oregon
	
	 
	
	
	

	
	
	
	
	
	
	
	
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