Municipal Recycling

Berkeley, Calif., residents who recycle could win cash prizes of at least $50. The Berkely Ecology Center, the City of Berkeley and the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and Source Reduction and Recycling Board are sponsoring the project that plans to give away $6,500.

Each week from Feb. 14 to July 14, residents have the chance to win cash prizes. “It’s fun and we like giving our recycling households positive reinforcement,” says Dave Williamson, ecology center recycling operations manager. “We want to encourage people to consume less, recycle more and do a better job of separating the trash from the recyclables and to have a deeper understanding of what they are throwing away.”

In past years the contest has reaped increased recycling rates of 10% that have lasted for several years. Berkeley had a recycling rate of more than 50% in 1999.

Arizona DEQ Accepting Grant Applications

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Phoenix, is accepting proposals for the Waste Reduction Initiative Through Education (WRITE) Grant Request program. Private companies and public agencies who contribute to the Recycling Fund through landfill disposal fees can submit proposals.

The objective of the grants is to provide educational opportunities to increase awareness about recycling. The DEQ will contribute a maximum of $60,000 for each proposal, with the organization matching those funds. Proposals requesting $25,000 must provide a minimum of 20% contribution and those projects requesting more than $25,000 must provide at least a 35% contribution of the total project costs.

Grant proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

Goal of the project

Solid waste education awareness impact

Methodology/timeline

Community impact

Deliveries

Budget

Submissions are due by April 12. Questions should be directed to (800) 234-5677, ext. 4724.

Cash for Cans

About 200 recycling machines in place at grocery stores in California and New Mexico have collected more than 250 million containers and paid out more than $7 million in cash payments to consumers.

Introduced as a pilot program in 1999, the rePLANET centers are staffed, semi-automated recycling centers placed at grocery stores. The machines accept cans, glass bottles, PET plastic bottles and newspapers and pay cash for these items. The automated TOMRA recycling machines process the materials and are open 24 hours a day at some sites.

Green Glass Turned Away in Ontario

Recyclers and haulers in Ontario, Canada, who collect glass containers have received some unwelcome news. Consumers Glass, Etobicoke, Ontario’s major glass recycling end market consumer, will no longer be accepting green glass.

John Hanson of the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO), Toronto, says Consumers Glass has advised its processor, NexCycle Industries of Guelph, Ontario, to discontinue purchasing curbside green recycled glass for its use from the Ontario Municipal Blue Box program.

The decision is probably due to the closing of a Molson Brewing Co. plant in Barrie, Ontario. According to the RCO, much of that facility’s production went into non-refillable green bottles destined for the U.S. market. Molson will now service the U.S. market from its Montreal brewery, and consequently, Consumers Glass will supply Molson green cullet in Montreal from its New Brunswick facility instead of from Ontario.

“This is very bad news because alternative markets such as reflective paint, filter mediums, glass blasting, glassphalt and construction aggregate may not be adequate to absorb the material” says Hanson of the loss of the end market.

“Even if a home can be found, municipalities will most certainly take a financial hit. To do this and give municipalities and recyclers what amounts to three days notice shows gross insensitivity on the part of Consumers Glass,” he adds.

The RCO estimates that slightly more than 100,000 metric tons of glass was collected in Ontario last year, with roughly 40,000 to 45,000 metric tons of that being clear glass; another 40,000 metric tons or so sold as mixed glass; and 30,000 to 35,000 metric tons sold as color-separated green or amber cullet.

Under Ontario’s mandatory recycling requirements, both clear and colored glass bottles must be collected in cities with more than 5,000 residents.

“It is critical that if municipal programs are to continue to collect this material, plans be devised as soon as possible to support colored glass recycling,” says Hanson.

Hanson notes that the Association of Municipal Recycling Coordinators will host a special session on glass markets at its March 20-21 conference on waste management contracts, taking place in Oakville, Ontario.