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[GreenYes] Servicing Recycling Stations in parks


Aloha,

Does anyone know of any municipalities or agencies that use professional
recycling stations/bins in parks and other public spaces and have them
serviced by the public on a first come first served basis instead of
paying for contracted services or doing it themselves? If so, have you
heard of any problems or issues associated with this approach? Any
information or feedback would be appreciated.



Our situation on Kauai is such that we have a new redemption law that
went into effect Jan 1 2005 and there are many people who collect cans
and bottles from the parks, beaches, roadsides, etc. Approximately 8
months ago we installed local hoop wire recycling bins into the parks to
encourage "away from home" recycling. The program is successful in terms
of the increased convenience of collecting materials for the collectors.
However, theft of the bins has been high because many people like to use
them for their own personal use. The segment of the population that
collect the redemption materials from the bins are usually senior
citizens. I know in some states the homeless population is the main
collector of this type of recyclable material.



The County of Kauai will be installing the recycling stations in three
parks where theft of the hoop wire bins has been significant. Initially
the County planned to have the professional stations serviced either by
a non-profit or a private hauler. This would be very expensive as the
bins would have to be monitored almost every other day. The funding for
both the stations and the servicing comes in the form of a grant issued
by the State DOH on a year to year basis. It would also be very
expensive because there is little competition over here.



On option would be to service the bins "in-house", but approval is by no
means a guarantee. Also, our concern is that the public would perceive
the County as being greedy by keeping the money collected from the
redemption materials. Because the bottle bill is a new law, the public
already feels they are being "cheated" out of their money. If we were to
now begin collecting the redemption materials and keeping the money
ourselves it might really upset the general public.



Mahalo,

Diane



Diane Rosenkranz

Recycling Specialist

County of Kauai

(808) 241-5112 ph

(808) 241-6892 fax

drosenkranz@no.address





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