Recycling to get simpler; setting it up is complicated

By Matt Sutkoski
Free Press Staff WriterThursday, September 19, 2002

The Chittenden Solid Waste District wants to simplify recycling in the county, but the cost and logistics of the new programs remain complicated.

Instead of separating different types of material into separate bins, residents and business owners would dump a mix of plastic, paper, cans, glass and cardboard into one bin or cart. Machinery would separate the material later. The concept is called single-stream recycling.

Making it easier to recycle could prompt more people to comply with Chittenden County's mandatory recycling law, said CSWD spokeswoman Wendy McArdle.

Residents would be less confused over how to recycle. Businesses would have more space to store recycled material for pickup, no longer needing separate bins.

All this means that less trash will end up in costly landfills and more would be recycled into new consumer products, a primary district goal. Manufacturing goods from recycled products usually costs less and create less pollution than making products from virgin material.

For all these reasons, district officials want to recycle as much material as possible.

Ned Flinn, general manager of City Market, said single-stream recycling might help his business somewhat, but the downtown Burlington grocery store already has recycling down pat. "We have a pretty good system worked out already. We did sort of plan for it when we built the new store. In the old store it was an issue with some of the bins and with storage space," he said.

Single-stream recycling in Chittenden County could also cost more than $2 million to set up. Who pays for what is yet to be settled.

The district has $1.1 million set aside to buy the machinery that would separate all the recycling material for resale. After researching systems through the summer, district officials have settled on a company called Machinex for the system.

The district has to come up with another $750,000 to modify a Williston building called a materials recovery facility to house the machinery.

"We're trying to find funds for the MRF expansion," McCardle said.

The most expensive piece of the move is an estimated $1.7 million for about 44,000 large wheeled carts to be distributed to homes and businesses throughout the county.

"The question right now is who is going to buy the carts? The district?" McArdle said. "Some board members are wondering if that's appropriate because the real savings are going to come to the haulers."

Under the new system, trash haulers won't have to separate recycling material into separate sections of trucks. Efficiency would improve, costs could go down.

Casella Waste Management Inc. spokesman Joseph Fusco said he doesn't think haulers should bear the cost of the carts.

"While it will make the system more efficient, really for us it would be marginally so, not enough to justify bearing the cost," Fusco said.

Burlington and Westford provide municipal curbside recycling. Other county residents must either contract with a private hauler or bring their trash and recyclables to drop-off centers. Most of the residents who use private haulers would need the special carts for single-stream recycling.

The biggest expenses to trash hauling and recycling is paying the truck drivers and maintaining the trucks. Those costs won't drop significantly under the new recycling system, he said.

Public policy organizations, like the districts, should be the ones who raise money for decisions they believe are for the good of the public, Fusco said.

The district board will discuss Wednesday the matter of who pays for the carts.

If all pieces of the financing, planning and building the single-stream recycling fall into place just right, McArdle said the program could begin next spring or summer.