Allied Waste Develops Cost-Saving Plan for Single-Stream Recycling

Allied Waste has announced the details of a plan that would allow the 12 member communities of the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA) to switch to single-stream recycling in less than a year, without the need for the $53 million new facility proposed by the SBWMA.

In a letter to officials of the 12 communities, Allied gave specifics of the plan under which state-of-the-art equipment would be installed in the existing Shoreway Recycling and Disposal Center facility in San Carlos, Calif., at a cost of $7.6 million.

The plan also calls for a 10,000-square-foot extension of the existing 50,000 square foot Shoreway facility. The extension will cost an estimated $2 million and Allied will allow another $1.4 million for additional site work, permits and environmental enhancements, bringing the total cost of the project to approximately $11 million.

“In March, the SBWMA estimated that switching to single-stream recycling would cost approximately $20 million,” says Evan Boyd, general manager of Allied Waste of San Mateo County. “We didn’t submit our own plan at the time because that seemed fairly reasonable. But when their estimate grew to $41.5 million in April and finally to $53.9 million in June, we became concerned. We knew the job could be done for far less, and we developed this $11 million plan.”

The system, manufactured by Bulk Handling Systems (BHS) of Eugene, Ore., would be capable of handling the projected 80,000 tons of recyclable waste per year. This would be more than enough to meet all the projected demands of the SBWMA. The BHS equipment produces commodities for resale that will fetch high prices for the SBWMA and its members, helping to offset future rate increases.

In addition, the new equipment could allow the SBWMA to offer single-stream recycling to commercial customers, dramatically increasing the recycling levels in San Mateo County. The new processing equipment could be fully operational in nine months from the time it is ordered. Even with the extension of the existing structure, the county could begin single-stream recycling as early as 2010, ahead of the SBWMA schedule.