Hitting the Next Target

In the late 1980s, perhaps as a reaction to the infamous trash barge that floated up and down the Atlantic coast, the Virginia State legislature decided on a solution to the problem – the Virginia Water and Sewer Authorities Act. The act mandated that communities achieve at least a 25% recycling rate. One of the results of that Act was the joining together of 13 Virginia jurisdictions to create the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) in 1990, an organization serving 905,000 people, and achieving a 40% recycling rate.

CVWMA, based in Richmond, provides a wide range of recycling programs to both rural and urban populations, including curbside recycling, yard waste composting and scrap metal and appliance recycling. Areas served include Richmond, Petersburg, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Ashland and the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Gochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent, Powhatan and Prince George.

“We provide a menu of options to meet their needs, which makes it possible to bring programs that everyone can benefit from,” says Patricia Underwood, projects manager for CVWMA.

The Virginia Water and Sewer Authorities mandated that land-filled trash be reduced by 10% by 1991 and 25% by 1995. The Act also required Virginia to put together a comprehensive recycling plan. Communities could pool resources and create a plan together, says John Mitchell, executive director of the CVWMA. The member jurisdictions of the CVWMA linked up because they already comprised the Richmond metropolitan area, which was designated as a solid waste management planning district. “It makes it much more affordable for rural and urban areas. It makes recycling available to everyone,” Mitchell says.

CURBSIDE PROGRAM ONE OF MANY

The authority’s most visible service, the curbside recycling program, serves seven jurisdictions and 200,000 households with both weekly and bi-weekly programs. Materials collected include old newspapers, glass jars and bottles, aluminum and steel cans, foil, milk and juice cartons, #1 and #2 plastic bottles and mixed paper. The curbside recycling program collected 28,100 tons of materials during the 1998 fiscal year, according to the CVWMA 1998 annual report. All revenues made from the curbside program are returned to the contractor.

In addition to the curbside recycling program, the authority offers an appliance and scrap metal hauling and recycling program. The program began at nine sites last spring and has been met with enthusiasm from residents, Underwood says. “We have processed a considerable amount of tonnage. The rural communities also fill up the bins. There seems to be a demand for the service.” Three hundred tons of scrap metal were collected during fiscal year 1998, according to the CVWMA annual report.

Appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners are collected at designated sites and are transported to Richmond for processing. The white goods, freon recovery and recycling program removes freon from the appliances so the scrap metal can be recycled. Localities participating in the program receive revenue from the sale of the scrap metal after processing and hauling costs are paid for. A $10 per ton reimbursement floor price for the scrap metal is guaranteed, Underwood says. When ferrous scrap markets are better, the reimbursement rate rises.

The CVWMA collects more mixed paper than any other commodity, which made it necessary to add “newspaper only” bins to several drop-off recycling sites. The addition of these bins allowed for more collection capability and less contamination at the sites, making the product more marketable and allowing for smoother processing. A minimum price of $10 per ton is guaranteed and half of the revenue is returned to the localities. The CVWMA collected 3,540 tons of paper, glass and metal containers and plastic bottles through the drop-off recycling program during fiscal year 1998.

In addition to “newspaper only” bins placed at drop-off recycling sites, the containers are also available at area apartment complexes. The newspaper recycling service is provided free to the property owner by the CVWMA. About 15 complexes in Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield participate in the program.

The authority provides three programs aimed at reducing yard waste. By request, a contractor, tub grinder and any other necessary equipment are dispatched to transfer stations to chip tree limbs and brush into mulch under the wood waste mulching program. About 26,500 tons of mulch were made in fiscal year 1998.

Leaf waste is also recycled through an agricultural leaf composting program. Leaves are collected in urban neighborhoods and delivered to farms where they are composted. The composting process takes about 12 to 24 months. About 4,500 tons of leaves were delivered and composted at farms in fiscal year 1998.

A third yard waste program is the centralized yard waste composting program. Yard waste is delivered to contractors who produce marketable compost and top soil, which saves jurisdictions landfill disposal costs. Under the yard waste composting program, 6,900 tons of leaves were composted.

A TOUGHER CLIMB PAST 40%

Although programs offered by the CVWMA have been received well by residents, now the challenge is to increase the current recycling rate, Mitchell says. Part of the reason a rate above the current 40% has not been reached is because of a lack of economic incentive and changes in legislation involving recycling.

A bill that would have provided bottle and can recycling to all Virginia residents, not just those participating in a curbside program, was recently introduced in the Virginia State Legislature, but failed in committee. But even as the bill was circulating on the House floor, bottle and cans were being thrown away in the same building because of the low market value of the commodities, says Pat Franklin, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute, Arlington, Va.

Aluminum cans make up about 5% of municipal waste and a deposit system could result in 80% to 90% of those containers being recycled. “When you have a deposit structure you have separation of the materials and end up with clean material and guaranteed supply. It is conceivable that an industry could then come in and set up a plant,” says Mitchell.

Another type of legislation turned down by lawmakers is public policy that would shift the cost of recycling to the producers by using a deposit system that would keep materials out of landfills, Franklin says. Such producer responsibility measures have had few supporters in Congress or in state legislatures throughout the U.S., and generally encounter intense opposition lobbying from manufacturers.

CVWMA is waiting for state legislators to take some sort of steps to help increase the recycling rate. Once the initial 25% was reached, little action was taken by Virginia government to raise the rate again. “This is the first year we have had any significant consideration in legislation,” Mitchell says. “We are looking for a shot in the arm.”

Restriction of the import of solid waste could help drive up prices at landfills and offer more incentive to recycle, he says. “When the landfill cost is higher, there is more incentive to recycle,” Mitchell says. Currently, per-ton landfill prices in Virginia range from $30 to $55.

CONSOLIDATION AND END MARKETS PRESENT CHALLENGES

In addition to legislative action, competition (or a lack of it) among solid waste management providers affects recycling rates. “One of the things we see affecting us is the packaging contract,” Mitchell says. “There has been significant consolidation in the solid waste service area. We are concerned about maintaining sufficient competition.”

CVWMA will begin a contract with Tidewater Fibre Corp., Chesapeake, Va., on July 1. This change could benefit the authority. “We had a good relationship with our current contractor,” Mitchell says. “But Tidewater has recycling as their principal focus. Someone at that level is more likely to be concerned about market rates. It is a good position for the jurisdiction.”

In deliberations for a new contractor, one issue heavily discussed was whether to eliminate the collection of glass. The limited market value of glass and contamination of other materials from broken glass were two reasons cited. Also, broken glass adds wear and tear to the collection equipment. But because glass has always been a staple to recycling programs, the authority will continue to collect the commodity, Mitchell says.

One way the marketability of glass can be improved is to handle the commodity like it is a recyclable, not trash, says Douglas Gibboney, regional director of the Glass Packaging Institute, Washington. “Commingled collection is a real problem because it lowers the quality of the materials. We have two glass plants in Virginia, and they both use colored glass. Hopefully, a new plant will use clear glass.”

Low market value and contamination of product affect marketability, as does distance from processing plants, which poses a problem in Virginia, Gibboney says. “The major problem in central Virginia is that there was a processor about 20 miles away that shut down, so that put a cramp in the marketability. We now have to go to North Carolina, and it hasn’t made it the best situation.”

The need for recycled materials has a large effect on the prospect of recycling goods, Franklin says. Although an area can be a large producer of a commodity, if the demand and means to recycle those goods are not present, it is difficult to recycle. “The need for materials isn’t always where the supply is,” she says.

Dropping prices for recyclables also affects the recycling rate, as does the strong economy. “The rates for aluminum, glass and plastic have continued to drop for the past three years,” Franklin says. “We have curbside programs, but most of recyclable products are not being consumed at home. People are buying single-use containers at the store and at work, and it is more difficult to capture these containers. They are never getting into the curbside bins.”

When there is a strong economy, people are less likely to economize and less likely to recycle, Franklin says. “People are not in trouble financially, and that is really showing in terms of aluminum cans.”

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Sponsored Content

SENNEBOGEN 340G telehandler improves the view in Macon County, NC

An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

In the contracts CVWMA signs with contractors, it is required that the contractor markets the goods as recyclable, Underwood says. “We contract experts in their field. We do have provisions that the goods must be processed and used as recyclable material.”

EDUCATION TARGETED TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION

In addition to the change in contractors, the authority has some initiatives under way to try to increase participation in programs. “We have made a commitment to increase the recycling rate by 10% in the next five-year contract,” Underwood says. “That is a fairly meaty project to take on.”

Part of obtaining the 10% increase in recycling includes promotional partnerships, community outreach programs and an aggressive advertising campaign. Ready, Aim, Recycle! is a program funded by a $69,000 grant from the Virginia Litter Control and Recycling Fund. The educational theater program performed by Theater IV teaches public elementary school children about recycling and litter control.

A statewide radio campaign, Eco-Quiz, was also aimed at encouraging residents to recycle. The program, funded by the Virginia Litter Control and Recycling Fund through a $115,000 grant, is comprised of statewide radio announcements featuring an environmental question asked by a celebrity or public figure. Celebrities who have asked questions include Martin Short, Henry Winkler and Trisha Yearwood. The radio program will continue through fiscal year 1999.

To encourage residents to recycle pizza boxes, a direct mailing targeted 300,000 homes in metro-Richmond and the Tri-cities area. A recycling notice was attached to 25,000 pizza boxes reminding residents to recycle the box in the curbside recycling program.

The curbside recycling program has increased participation through several campaigns. One of the more successful is calendar mailings, Mitchell says. “It seems to go up at times of the year when the calendar is mailed out,” Mitchell says. “We seem to get more requests for additional bins, which seem to double in January. We find it comes in cycles of about four or five months, then we have to do something to get them excited.”

Other campaigns to encourage residents to recycle include regional public education efforts, public service announcements and a theater presentation to schools about recycling and the environment, says Michelle Stoll, recycling coordinator for the CVWMA.

One of the more recent efforts to encourage residents to recycle gave participants a chance to find out more information about programs offered by the CVWMA and to offer feedback about the programs. “There was a ‘grass roots’ effort with door hangers to remind people of their collection day and other recycling guidelines,” Stoll says. “In addition to the door hangers, residents received a detachable, postage-paid post card which included more information.”

A publicity project with the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), Charlotte, N.C., in 1996 gave CVWMA a boost in participation in recycling services. “Preliminarily, the project did good,” says Sandi Childs, eastern regional director for NAPCOR. “There was a spike in recycling after the campaign, but maybe not as much as we would have liked.” The campaign included a fashion show with clothes made out of recycled PET bottles and public service announcements about recycling.