[Vision2020] Glass Recycling Bin GONE

Mon Aug 8 09:27:49 PDT 2016

Thanks, Dan, for the suggestion!

I’ve been told there’s a solid waste/recycling rate study currently being done (the results might be out as early as September), so I think I’ll wait and see if that answers my questions.

I, too, remember reading somewhere that our recycling participation increased dramatically with the shift to single stream – my perception has always been that Moscow residents take our recycling seriously  :)  Just as impressive, IMHO, is that our recycling contamination rate is pretty darn low:  I think I remember reading “somewhere”  that our contamination rate is less than half the national average . . . or something like that.  

[For those who don’t know, single stream recycling, which while once “popular” for various reasons including convenience that boosts recycling participation rates, comes with the pretty significant potential downside of contamination:  some studies estimate that contamination rates increase up to four times with single stream recycling, and that contamination turns recyclables into residuals that are landfilled  :(]

While I’m proud about our increase in recycling participation, I’m even more proud that participants here take more care than the average bear so that our recyclables can actually be recycled  :)

Saundra

Well-behaved women seldom make history.

~ Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Dan Carscallen
Sent: Friday, August 5, 2016 11:21 PM
To: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Glass Recycling Bin GONE

Saundra,

I don't know if it's readily available anywhere on the city's website, but if you contact the sanitation manager, Tim Davis (tdavis at ci.moscow.id.us <mailto:tdavis at ci.moscow.id.us> ) I'm pretty sure he could suss out the numbers for you.  

If I recall correctly, the increase in recycling when we went single stream was pretty astronomical, with a complimentary decrease in garbage, or municipal solid waste (MSW in the parlance).  Of course, I didn't save that stuff when I left -- I recycled it :)

DC

On Aug 5, 2016, at 22:58, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> > wrote:

Food for thought, Ron -- thanks.

Also food for thought is the consequences of more people tossing glass in the trash?  My understanding is that costs would increase because that would increase the number of truckloads of trash that have to be transported to Oregon.  Here’s something Andy Boyd posted about a year ago:

By continuing to bring glass to one of the drop off sites, we save sending 25-30, 53 foot truckloads to Oregon where are trash is landfilled; this saves the city and its residents a significant amount of money; our glass is reused at the transfer station for road and pad base material, it is not landfilled locally.

About 21 tons of glass was dropped off at the old Gilbert Auto bin in the year the container was placed there after glass quit being picked up with curbside recycling, which reportedly accounts for about 6% of all the glass collected by Moscow Recycling.  Six percent of all the glass collected might not sound like much, but shifting the burden to citizens of further transporting 21 tons doesn’t sound reasonable to me, at least without a reduction in what we pay.  In addition to Tricia Nelson who posted that she also used the bin, I heard from several other Visionaries who also used the bin and also weren’t aware that it had been removed – none of us are happy at the lack of notice.  When eliminating a service, it seems to me the City would be wise to make a reasonable effort to let people know – I really don’t think that’s asking a whole lot.

Does anyone know how much it would cost if the trash we have to truck to the Oregon landfill increases by even “just” two 53-foot truckloads/year?  Hopefully, most or all of us who relied on that bin will be able to make other arrangements, but if not?  What will that cost we-the-taxpayers?

I’d also be interested in seeing the weight of trash collected in the year before glass was eliminated from curbside recycling and in the year since.  Does anyone know where I can find that information?

Thanks,

Saundra

From: Ron Force [mailto:ronforce at gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, August 5, 2016 2:11 PM
To: Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> >; Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com <mailto:vision2020 at moscow.com> >
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Glass Recycling Bin GONE

The recyclables are also baled and trucked out of the area for processing. I don't know where in California you're talking about, but recycling is very sensitive to the distance from potential markets. That's why it doesn't pay for Moscow to recycle glass--heavy, and the price is too low to justify transporting it to where it might be used. Remoteness from economic centers is one of the downsides to living in a rural area.

Ron Force
Moscow Idaho USA

On Fri, Aug 5, 2016 at 12:52 PM, Saundra Lund <v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm <mailto:v2020 at ssl1.fastmail.fm> > wrote:

Wow – we made our regular trip to the glass recycling bin on the east side of town (old Gilbert Auto parking lot) this morning only to find it gone . . . with no notice!  Since the move to single-stream curbside recycling has excluded glass, we’ve been helping out a few friends who lack transportation and/or the physical strength/agility to haul heavy glass by taking their glass when we take ours.  This is a practice I’m not sure we’ll be able to continue with the elimination of the convenient location of that bin  :(

Supposedly, the glass recycling bin was removed due to a lack of use, although I’m not sure I find that explanation reasonable – it was unusual when we went that no one else was coming or going, and comments from nearby businesses also indicate it was frequently used in spite of the user unfriendly design of that particular bin.

This was extraordinarily bad timing because we just received our City bill yesterday, and I’ve long noticed that our rates are significantly higher than a family member’s who lives in expensive California.  They have bi-weekly single-stream curbside recycling, too, but they haven’t excluded glass and they accept more curbside recyclables than we are allowed here.

I recall reading “something” a month or two after we moved to single-stream recycling that the transition was extraordinarily successful – I believe the amount of recyclables picked up doubled.  It makes me really happy that the inclusion of apartment complexes has been so successful!

With that enormous improvement in recycling rates, that should mean less is going into the landfill and/or less waste that needs to be trucked out of the area, although I don’t recall seeing anything statistics about that.

However, with the decreases in service since the move to single-stream recycling as well as the laudable success of shifting recyclables out of the landfill, I’d like to know when we can expect to see a decrease in our garbage rates.

Thanks,

Saundra Lund

Moscow, ID

The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak out for themselves.

~ Jane Goodall

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