Florida County Debates Curb Recycling Program

With participation low and costs high, Miami-Dade, Fla., wants a new plan and a new contractor for curbside recycling.

Only 14 percent of Miami-Dade's recycled garbage comes from its costly curbside recycling program -- one that may hurt the environment as much as it helps and has been plagued by hundreds of complaints and thousands of missed pickups over the last year.

Moreover, it is cheaper to recycle some materials -- like soda cans -- when they are thrown into the garbage can instead of the recycling bin.

County leaders want new companies to bid on taking over a revamped program next year and to find ways to increase participation. If more people recycled more items, the system would become more financially and environmentally sound.

'It's not `can we' [improve the program],'' said Assistant County Manager Roger Carlton. ``We have to.''

But at least one commissioner is talking about eliminating curbside recycling completely to save money or to expand other trash services.

''We're spending millions and millions on a feel-good,'' said Commissioner José ''Pepe'' Diaz.

A county report has raised questions about the program's environmental value. It found that the fossil-fuel savings from reusing those beer bottles and soda cans may be outweighed by the 234,000 gallons of fuel consumed each year by the 50 recycling trucks -- and by the pollution they emit.

The curbside program, operated by contractor BFI, collects 35,000 tons per year of glass, plastic, newspaper and metal from unincorporated Miami-Dade and 21 municipalities. It cost the county more than $9.8 million over the last 12 months -- roughly $280 per ton.

Processing garbage is far less expensive, $154 per ton, and much of that is kept out of landfills through other types of recycling or disposal. Altogether, Miami-Dade recycles almost 250,000 tons of waste per year.

''The amount we pay for the [curbside] program is far in excess of any benefit that we get,'' said Paul Mauriello, assistant director of Miami-Dade's Department of Solid Waste Management.

The cost is increased because people in Miami-Dade tend to recycle so little -- about 240 pounds per year in an average home, compared to about 1,160 in Palm Beach County and 2,360 in Collier County. The county and BFI split the revenue from selling recycled goods, so higher participation would help defray the costs.

The department lost a number of grants used to promote recycling, and a recent county report said the department cannot afford to do any marketing. BFI sends a single annual mailing, required by its contract, which the company said costs more than $100,000 and prompts 2,000 new requests for recycling bins.

''This shows there is an ongoing interest and need for the curbside program,'' BFI said in a written response to The Miami Herald's questions.

The director of Environment Florida, a nonprofit citizens' environmental group, said recycling deserves to be subsidized through taxes.

''There are so many intangibles as far as the benefits: teaching consumers and instilling the mind-set of recycling in the community,'' said Director Mark Ferrulo.

In Miami-Dade, recycling is split between two bins -- one for newspaper and cardboard; another for glass, plastic, metal and other materials.

Some communities offer ''single-stream recycling,'' believed to increase participation because residents consider it easier. But single-stream has a major startup cost because it requires changes to the processing facility as well as new, larger bins and possibly new trucks.

Other communities refuse to pick up more than one trash bin, forcing residents to put more refuse in their recycling bins.

''To me, the answer isn't to scrap it but to make the program work,'' Ferrulo said.

But attracting new recycling vendors has proven difficult. A first attempt over the summer netted only one bidder: BFI. County officials rejected the bid, then met with industry representatives for ideas on how to attract other companies. They plan to issue a new set of specifications this month.

''This is just not a program right now to be proud of,'' Commissioner Katy Sorenson said in September.

Indeed, complaints about BFI's service rose this summer -- the 72 phone complaints received in September was the highest monthly total in at least a year. The average of 251 missed pickups a month during the first half of 2006 jumped to 394 in July, 522 in August and 452 in September, according to county records.

''Right now we do have service issues,'' said Kathleen Woods-Richardson, director of Solid Waste Management. ``It's not really at an acceptable level.''

Still, only a tiny fraction of the 136,000 monthly pickups were skipped. In its statement, the company blamed truck breakdowns and high turnover among drivers. BFI was going to replace all its trucks this year, the statement said, but balked when it did not receive the new contract over the summer. In a ''good-faith effort,'' the company said it bought five new trucks this fall.

The curbside program, like other trash collection, is funded through the $439 annual trash fee paid by property owners. Canceling the program or cutting its cost would allow the county to trim that fee or spend the savings on other services such as bulky waste pickup.

If the curbside program were eliminated, Mauriello said most of the county's actual recycling would continue. About 20 percent of Miami-Dade's household garbage is taken to the Montenay Resources Recovery Facility in Doral, which recycles metal, produces biomass fuel and sells electricity.

The 30,000 tons of steel and aluminum extracted for recycling at Montenay each year far exceeds the 1,500 tons of such material collected curbside.

Without the curbside program, residents would have to bring newspapers, glass and plastic to one of 13 neighborhood collection centers, or they would be burned at Montenay or packed into a landfill.

Moreover, some officials worry about the message -- political and practical -- that Miami-Dade would send by cutting its recycling program.

"If you care about your grandchildren and care about the world,'' Woods-Richardson said, ``you want to recycle." Miami Herald