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Recycling up locally, statewide
Published 1/28/2012 in Local News
BY ANGIE HAFLICH
ahaflich@gctelegram.com
According to a recent survey from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 96 percent of respondents statewide consider recycling important.
The KDHE 2011 Community Recycling Survey found that most agree that recycling household goods is an important element of protecting the environment. According to the survey, the recycling of all household waste, which includes plastics, aluminum cans and cardboard, has grown significantly since the survey was last administered in 2005.
In the 2005 survey, when asked, "Do you currently recycle?" 65 percent said yes, and 35 percent said no. In the 2011 survey, 85 percent said yes and 15 percent said no.
According to City Manager Matt Allen, recycling statistics from the Garden City Recycle Center, 125 JC St., have remained stable over that same time period.
"Over the past few years, our tonnage has remained fairly consistent," Allen said.
Because of its weight, cardboard is the recycling center's most recycled product. In 2011, the recycling center collected 698.21 tons of it, whereas milk jugs and various types of plastic combined totaled 24.5 tons.
The city's recycling center came into existence as a truck and trailer in 1990, and expanded into the current facility in 1993. Since that time, the city also has provided several freestanding drop-off locations throughout town.
"One of the deterrents to recycling is that you have to provide it clean, because once it gets to us, we have to discard it if it's not clean. That's a barrier to recycling glass and plastic," he said.
Sam Curran, city public works director, said that an unclean load of any item, whether it is glass, plastic, paper or cardboard, has to be discarded.
"If someone throws even one diaper into one of the bins, the whole load has to be discarded," he said.
There also are economic factors that have to be taken into consideration when it comes to recycling.
"Us having a drop-off program is very much accepted, if not expected, and now the discussion has become 'When does this turn into a curbside program versus a drop-off program,'" Allen said. "It's been presented on at least one or two occasions to the city commission and the cost increment of what would be added to the residential solid waste bill each month was something that the commission ultimately elected not to do quite yet."
Curran said that in order for the city to be able to provide curbside service, it would require expanding the current facility, adding two truck drivers and four to five sorters. This extra expense would translate into higher solid waste bills.
"Technically, recycling is fed off solid waste, so rates would have to go up. Right now, residents pay about $19.95 a month and that would go up to $25 to $26 per month, per homeowner, and I don't think people are willing to do that just yet," he said.
In terms of the economics of the recycling center itself, Curran said that cardboard is the biggest moneymaker because it is heavier and creates more tonnage. Companies that actually perform the recycling, such as Sonoco, whose Hutchinson location picks up the city's recycling products, will pay more for heavier bails. Since cardboard generates more revenue, the city currently provides commercial curbside service to local businesses who are discarding boxes.
"And if we have someone who moves into town and has a lot of boxes, if they call us and ask what to do with all of them, we'll tell them 'break them down, stack them and call us when you have it ready and we'll send someone over to pick them up,'" Curran said.
There also has been an increase in residents who are recycling plastic, he said.
"We have some growth, but it's not the growth that generates revenue. We're generating a lot more plastic, but it's not the same weight as cardboard or paper," he said. "A whole bin of plastic won't even do one bail because plastic is lightweight, and most of it is air, so we're not getting additional weight."
According KDHE's statewide survey, 81 percent of households recycle aluminum cans, up from 65 percent in 2005; 70 percent of households recycle plastics, up from 33 percent in 2005; 56 percent of households recycle newspapers, up from 52 percent in 2005; 45 percent of households recycle cardboard, up from 10 percent in 2005; and 44 percent of households recycle other paper, up from 14 percent in 2005.
Curran believes that the Garden City community also is doing more recycling.
"A lot of business around town like Walmart, Target, Sears — I think they're bailing their own cardboard. Sam's is bailing their own. So we're actually doing a lot of recycling in Garden City — it just isn't all done through the city's recycling center," he said. "There are also a couple of doctors at the hospital who have proposed to split the cost of having a truck and trailer parked near there, in order to increase recycling efforts."
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