Municipal Recycling

Dallas Expands Collection Program

The city of Dallas has launched an expanded residential recycling program in an effort to reduce material discarded by city residents.

The expanded program adds mixed paper, chipboard, glass and aerosol cans as recyclables. The new materials join old newspapers, aluminum cans, steel cans and plastic bottles.

The program is being run by Community Waste Disposal, which was awarded a five-year contract by the city of Dallas to handle the collection, processing and marketing of the materials. The $16.7 million contract also has two one-year extensions. The Dallas-based company began the program in February with the initial four materials, and added the other materials the first weekday of October in an attemtpt to double the volume of material collected.

According to reports, Dallas has lagged behind many other cities in recycling participation, with just 13 percent of the single-family homes in the city now taking part.

Currently, 7,656 tons of recyclables are collected each year — roughly 3.2 percent of total residential garbage. The program will service roughly 230,000 single family accounts in the city, says Joey Zapata, the program’s contract manager. He estimates the collection program covers around 500,000 people.

While Dallas has had a recyclables collection program in place since 1997, Zapata says the benefit to the arrangement with CWD is the knowledge they have about the business. “We wanted someone with the expertise to handle the material. We also wanted someone to undertake all the (market) risks, Zapata adds.

“By adding mixed paper — magazines, junk mail and office paper — the city may double the volume of recyclables, says Zapata.

New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen has created a task force to analyze the state’s solid waste management options. While the state has made headway in reducing waste and recycling, it continues to be a large importer of waste, which has become a concern because of the need for landfill capacity for residents.

The task force will be comprised of municipal officials, legislators, industry representatives, environmental interests, individuals from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, the Department of Justice and the Waste Management Council. The group will look at disposal capacity, consolidation trends in the industry and waste flow.

“Rather than wait until solid waste issues become unmanageable,” Shaheen says, “the task force, working with guidance and support from DES, will have the opportunity to craft recommendations that will benefit New Hampshire citizens well into the future.”

Oregon 'Recycler of the Year' Awards

The Association of Oregon Recyclers has presented its Recycler of the Year Awards at the associations annual recycling conference. Ten winners were first-time recipients and a brand new award was created to honor sustainable practices.

The following awards were presented in Bend, Ore., in September:

State Reduction Rate Stalls

Connecticut recycling rates have been at a standstill at 25%, according to the FY99 report by the state. About 800,000 tons of material was recycled in the state, with another 2.5 million tons of trash disposed of.

Although the overall recycling rate seems to be stuck at 25%, individual commodity rates have risen. The paper recycling rate rose slightly, but those increases are offset by decreases in container weights of bottles and cans.

Strategies for boosting the state recycling rate include: