[EQAB-list] Proposed Recycling Changes

[Fred L Stephens]

We ran out of discussion time at our EQAB meeting on Thursday evening 
and there are many questions remaining. These are some of the 
questions I have.

1. Why not reward a household's participation with an annual payback 
on their household rubbish bill - as opposed to coupons?

2. Will waste connections report back to the city our recycle numbers 
in detail? I don't mean per household. I want to know how much 
newspaper, plastic #1, glass, etc. is being recycled in Oak Ridge 
overall.  This information could benefit the city in the future. This 
information potentially could help us with our ICLEI goals. Also, we 
might want to consider bargaining with an alternative recycling 
company in the future. We are in a better position if we know more 
about the specifics of Oak Ridge participation.

3. A lack of standards in "green" energy savings calculations has 
been reported lately as varying widely. What calculations does 
RecycleBank use for their calculations of trees saved, energy saved, 
etc. We don't want to mislead the public because sooner or later the 
truth will come out.

4. If Waste Connections wants us to fund new 65 gal bins through a 
monthly increase in fees, will this fee go away after this investment 
is paid. I thought I heard an amortization schedule of 7 years. And 
will the bins then belong to Oak Ridge? Or to the household?

5. I presume that part of our current recycling cost charged to the 
city is hauling the mixed paper to recycle centers. I have heard this 
was true of past contracts. In fact, it is my understanding that 
Waste Connections was allowed to haul paper to the landfill if the 
selling price of mixed paper got too low. What is the status on this 
today? Does this still happen? Is this still allowed? Will the single 
stream eliminate all possibility of recycling efforts going to the landfill?

6. Is waste connections also willing to report to us commercial 
subscription data?  Again, we might be able to use this information 
now or in the future to show our successes in waste stream reductions 
as a community. Even if we get this data only by agreeing to not 
share it outside of our database or for competitive bids, we want a 
complete set of quantitative data from Waste Connections on what the 
city is recycling. Also, we should ask for quantitative figures on 
leaves and brush pickups.

I agree with Joe Wood in that we need to see a cost / benefit 
analysis that is specific to Oak Ridge. We can recommend the city 
staff present the project to the city council with a thorough cost 
benefit analysis. And we need to show how much the county will be 
saving in fees. We are also county tax payers. We should get some 
money back from the county per ton diverted.

Last but not least, such a program will set us apart as leaders in 
"greening" initiatives, a positive image for a city desiring to 
attract more young professionals.

Fred Stephens