Making
Progress on Recycling
By Albert B. Kelly
The nuts and bolts of
municipal government are not really very attractive and the subject matter not
all that inspiring to think on. But every now then, if you do it long enough,
you get a little bit of good news- a small reminder that the dry language of
policy plays out on the street in the “daily-ness” of the community.
That was the case when it
came to trash pick-up and recycling. The issue was the tipping fees- meaning
the amount we paid for each load of trash and what we might receive in credits
if we lowered the number of trash loads and increased the amount we recycled.
We certainly had enough in
the way of reports and studies but like many things in life, sometimes you have
to go and see for yourself. That’s what I hoped to do a couple of years ago as
the trash and recycling crews were kind enough to let me do a “ride-along” to
see for myself how we did curbside pick-up.
It was tough a few hours,
but it was informative. In addition to a new-found respect for the crews
working the streets, I came away with the sense that we could do some things
better, like enforcement and education; but I was also convinced that we could
make things easier for residents on the recycling front.
With the close-up view, it
was clear that far too much recyclable materials were being mixed in with
regular household trash; part of this had to do with the amount of recyclables
generated and the small containers.
That’s where single-stream
recycling (and the 96 gallon red containers) comes in and we’ve finally got
some numbers to show for it since the program began in April of last year.
If you recall, the goal of
single-stream recycling was to provide one large (96 gallon) container into
which residents could deposit glass, plastic, and paper without the need to
separate these items into different “streams” or containers.
The idea was to make it
easier and by so doing, increase the amount we recycle as a community while
lowering the amount we throw away as trash. This would save residents money
because instead of paying ever increasing amounts on what we throw away as
garbage, we would get credit on what we take to the curb as recyclables.
Not for nothin, but in
2014 Bridgetonians disposed of 6,245 tons of garbage. In 2015, that number
dropped to 5,913 tons of trash. This means that we paid approximately $371,832
in disposal fees in 2014 compared with $352,251 in 2015. While single-stream
recycling started in April last year, we still managed to save approximately
$19,580 in disposal fees last year.
Looking at things from the
recycling side, it breaks down as follows; in 2014 we had 296 loads or 1,164
tons of recyclables. In 2015, total loads increased to 341- which translated
into 1,733 tons of recyclable material. That’s a good start- an increase of
nearly 570 single-stream recyclable tons.
On the front end, this
means lowering the cost of solid waste removal for residents- no small thing,
but it also means we’re heading in the right direction in terms of the
environment. The issues of our environment, global warming, and sustainability are
hard ones.
No single gesture by an
individual or a community can fix all the problems; it’s the combined efforts
of untold numbers of households doing the little things on a daily and weekly
basis that, when added together, make the difference. It’s an act of faith and
failing that, it comes down to enforcement.
It’s hard because lacking
some obvious pollution; we don’t see any immediate “cause and effect” impact on
our environment so we don’t see the consequences of our small decisions to
recycle or not. Part of a larger fabric, we see our decisions only in abstract
numbers, levels, and tons.
All of that leads to this;
we’re making progress as a community. Single-stream recycling has made the
curbside process easier and because we’re recycling more, we’re part of
extending the life of plastic, glass, and paper and over time this means using
fewer natural resources.
There’s more to do of
course, and the stakes are only getting higher. That’s why I want to encourage
all of our residents to continue to be mindful about what they throw away and
what goes into the single-stream recycling containers- to be deliberate about
it…about making a difference.