Residents Rejecting Recycling Program

David Berst was already in the habit of recycling when he moved to Indianapolis from Kansas City, Kan., three years ago.

So when he and his wife, Nancy, moved to their Near-Northside home, they signed up for curbside recycling, which required them to simply fill a plastic bin and set it near the street.

"I think we got into the habit of contributing in that way in Kansas and were looking for the opportunity to do it here," Berst said. "At this point, things are easy."

Apparently, many in Indianapolis disagree. Eight years into the city's curbside recycling program, fewer than 6 percent of city households participate. By comparison, more than half of Bloomington residents recycle, and more than a third do so in Cincinnati.

Indianapolis officials say they're puzzled by the lack of participation here.

"We are taking a hard look at the program we have now and trying to figure out how to make it better -- what's affordable," Department of Public Works spokesman Paul Whitmore said.

Some residents say the city does not provide enough incentives for a successful curbside program. Participation is voluntary, and those who want the service must sign up with the city or one of the contractors, at a monthly cost of $3.49 to $5 for a bin and weekly pickup.

"They have raised the price and keep making it more and more difficult for people to use it," said Richard Van Frank, an Audubon Society member. "It surprises me sometimes that it even continues to exist. There is certainly no incentive for people to do it."

The city's efforts also may be hindered by a waste-to-energy incinerator built in 1985, said Lisa Laflin of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, the nonprofit group that runs the city's recycling drop-off program.

The city is obligated to send 525,600 tons of waste to the incinerator but has sent about 630,000 to 640,000 tons a year.

"Therein lies the issue of how much we are able to encourage recycling," Laflin said.

Kumar Menon, the city's solid waste administrator, said the incinerator does not affect recycling efforts.

City officials say it is difficult to accurately assess recycling participation in Indianapolis.

Rumpke Recycling -- where all of the city's recyclables are taken to be sorted and sold -- receives about 3,600 tons of recyclables a year from the curbside program, district manager Brad Dunn said. It also receives material from the city's 27 drop-off bins, from which more than 65,000 tons have been collected since 1995.

But the city has no way to know how many of the 250,000 households with the option of curbside recycling are participating.

That's because the Department of Public Works picks up trash and recyclables in only five of city's 12 trash-collection zones -- for a total of about 1,000 customers. Three private contractors operate in the other zones, but they are not required to tell the city how many households participate or how many tons of recyclables they collect, Menon said.

Whitmore and Menon said the city is studying successful programs in other cities as it looks for ways to increase recycling. One place they're looking is Bloomington, where 55 percent of city residents in houses and condominiums recycle.

There, recycling is free, but residents must pay for any trash they throw out -- $1 for each bag or 32-gallon container -- said Christina Fulton, who oversees the city's recycling education program. The "pay as you throw" program, implemented in 1993, has increased recycling substantially, she said.

"Recycling is still an option, but the more trash you generate, the more you pay," Fulton said.

Whitmore said he has no idea what kind of program would work in Indianapolis.

"There are so many things you have to look at" with more than 200,000 homes, he said. "There's equipment, staff and financially how to go about it. Unfortunately, it's something you cannot just turn around and do right away."

Menon said the city also is considering placing recycling bins at festivals and parades and providing them to all Indianapolis public schools. It also will add five neighborhood drop-off bins this year.

"This is important to me personally and to a lot of people in the city," Menon said. "The environmental benefits are way too high to ignore."

Northside resident Sarah Hofheinz said that if the city is serious about recycling, it should make all taxpayers foot the bill.

That approach has been successful in Cincinnati, where about 37 percent of residents participate in the city's curbside recycling program. Diana Frey, a spokeswoman for the Public Services Department, said the decade-old program is paid for through city taxes.

"It's been a challenge to increase participation, but we do a lot of public information campaigns," Frey said.

Hofheinz, who quit the recycling program over a change in the frequency of collection, said more needs to be done here.

"It's just not the norm to recycle, and that's unfortunate," she said. "I think we have a responsibility to handle garbage responsibly." – The Indianapolis Star