Contaminated Recycling to Cost Providence $100K This Year

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Kate Nagle, GoLocalProv News Contributor

 

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Last year, the City of Providence projected that its new "Big Green Can" recycling initiative would save over $250,000 in landfill "tipping" fees, if recycling rates rose to 25% following the receptacle bin changes, which were made with the intent of increasing the environmentally responsible practice.

Last week, however, Tim Faulkner with EcoRI reported that the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation (RIRRC) has said that "contaminated recycling" will ultimately cost the city $100K this year. "Instead of bottles, cans and paper, residents in some neighborhoods are tossing TVs, food scrap and construction debris into their recycling bins," Faulkner relayed in the article.  

"Improperly discarded trash in recycling bins forced the city to exceed its annual waste cap for the first time in three years," Faulkner found. "Instead of paying $32 a ton for waste, the city is now paying $54."

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The higher fee, plus the loss of revenue from the recycling sold through the RIRRC will amount to the six-figure loss for the City of Providence, Faulkner cited RIRRC Director of Recycling Services Sarah Kite as saying.

Speaking with GoLocal this week, Kite said, "This issue affects everybody. We all make trash. The landfill only has about 21 years left. What will be the next phase of waste management, disposal? We need to be having these big-picture conversations now" -- adding that she "wasn't surprised" at the level of contaminated recycling, but that the RIRRC would be continuing to educate Rhode Islanders on recycling rules (see below).  

South and West Sides -- Highest Incidences of "Mixed Trash"

Providence's south and west sides were found to have more than half of their recycling trucks heading to the state recycling center rejected because of a high mix of trash, Faulkner learned from the RIRRC.

Providence City Councilman Luis Aponte said that he's been aware of the issue -- and that it's being continually addressed, to varying degrees of success.  

"In May, [we ] met with the contractor who does garbage pick up for the city, and followed the routes. Apparently the pick up days that showed the highest incidence of contaminated recycling included Thursday and Friday, which is when pick-up takes place in the district," said Aponte.  

'So it terms of what's happening, I think it's a series of things. It's either people just not thinking, or thinking they were doing the right thing, when in fact they weren't," Aponte explained.  "From what I understand, while glass and plastic bottles are recyclable, certain plastic bags people stick them in toss out aren't. Childrens' diapers are not recyclable. Cigarette butts in beer bottles pose an issue." 

"My recommendation to them was to go back out to educate people.  There had been very little information sent out when they went from [recycle] bins to the big barrels, " he said.  "One of my constituents got a ticket. I believe he put everything that was in the bag that he believed was recyclable, but it was the bag containing the items that posed the issue."

Aponte noted that large-scale furniture and appliance disposal was another major issue the neighborhood was struggling with.  

"There have been mattresses, bureaus, sitting on sidewalks for weeks and weeks," said Aponte.  "Whether it be houses being foreclosed on, and no one responsible for the trash left behind, or just a high turnover of residents and a number of languages spoken, there's definitely a need to educate people on what they can and can't do -- and ultimately we need these big items removed in a timely manner."

RIRRC Hopes to Tackle Contamination Issue

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At a recent meeting of the RIRRC Board of Commissioners, Faulkner reported that Kite lobbied for $25,000 in grant funds for a door-to-door education program to take place in those neighborhoods that were most problematic, to be conducted by the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island starting this month.  

"Recycling education is most effective when you can speak one-on-one with people to answer their specific, personal questions. RIRRC is very pleased that the EJLRI will be bringing individualized education to the neighborhoods that need it most," Kite told GoLocal.  "I like to remind people that recycling is a choice -- and when faced with having to choose, there's a lot that goes into that. There's a great deal of education involved as to what is recyclable, how to dispose of it."

Kite asserted that the problem was not unique to Providence by any means.  "It's not just Providence that struggles. How do you reach people with this info? When you send the material to property owner, especially in urban areas, you're having to rely on owners to get that info down to tenants."

Kite spoke highly of the EJLRI, who had down similar outreach in the praise  "The Justice League does really well, they were instrumental when the program was first launched. One and one, door-to-door, block party style activities -- those are just some of the ways we need to talk about this issue."

RIRRC Looking Towards Future

Kite said that continuing education was a critical component of the work done by the RIRRC.  

"As far as general education is concerned, we reach out to folks whenever we can," said Kite.  "We provide field trips to RI schools at no charge. Adult field trips -- go on our website to sign up -- people are excited to come here, see what we do, learn more about it, and get their questions answered."

"The landfill is slated to be capped in 21 years.  We need to start thinking about will be done then...now," said Kite. 

SEE RIRRC's FREQUENTLY ASKED RECYCLING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS HERE.  

 

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