plastics recycling: collection case studies - …infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/30/29631.pdfplastics...

Plastics Recycling:

Collection Case Studies

a

0

a

a

0

Rhode Island North Carolina New Jersey: Camden Co. New Jersey: Mount Olive California

f l b P l a s t i c s Recycling Foundation \f Center for Plastics Recycling Research

Introduction

Plastics Recycling Case Studies feature innovative communities that have made plastics recycling a real- iiy While most of the programs are still in early stages of development, progress is being made to ensure that plastics recycling becomes a permanent solid waste management solution.

The information in this brochure is excerpted from a technical manual entitled Plastics Collection and Sorting: Including Plas- tics in a Multi-Material Recycling Program for Non-rural Single Family Homes. The manual can be obtained by contacting the Center for Plastics Recycling Research.

Plastics Recycling Case Study 1

Place:

Contact :

Background:

Rhode Island Phase I and II (120,000 Households)

Janet Keller, Coordinator Ocean State Recycling and Cleanup Department of Environmental Management 83 Park Street Providence, RI 02903 (401) 277-3434

Under a 1986 mandatory state recycling law (the nation’s first), the 30 mode Island communities that haul their garbage to the state’s central landfill in Johnston are required to have recycling programs in place by 1990. The program officially got under way in April 1988, following a six-month pilot project in two communities.

The law requires the municipalities to send specified recyclables to a materials recovery facility in Johnston. The state also has offered to extend the recycling program to the nine municipalities that do not use the central landfill. Several of these communities have expressed interest in participating, as well.

Initially, only residents of single-family homes and apartment buildings with as many as four units were required to separate their trash. It is expected that larger apartment complexes would be on line six months after the single-family homes come on line. All businesses will be participating in the recycling program beginning January 1 , 1989. Source reduction and recycling plans are due from each company at a specified time during the year. Deadlines are determined by size of company and number of employees.

The whole municipal program will cost the state $30 million for the first six years ($4 million of which wiii go toward construction of the materials recovery facility). The principal source of funding for the state recycling program will come from commercial tipping fees. Rhode

continued

Center for Plastics Recycling Research Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Busch Campus, Bldg. 3529 Piscataway, NJ 08855 Tel.: (201) 932-3683

Plastics Recycling Foundation 1275 K St., NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 371 -5200

Rhode Island Case Study page fwu

Background: (continued)

Procedure:

Island law stipulates that the state must pay the reasonable costs associated with programs it mandates for its municipalities. Thus, through a complex arrangement involving three state agencies, Rhode Island is providing full funding to municipalities for the first three years of the mandated recycling program. After that, the communities are on their own, although tipping fees for separated recyclables will continue to be waived.

The state provides special 12.5-gallon blue bins in which residents place recyclables. Into the bins go rinsed glass bottles, jars with the labels removed, plastic soda bottles and milk jugs, and aluminum cans and foil. Newspapers are bundled and placed on top of the other recyclables. The bins are emptied on regular trash days for those communities with curbside garbage pick-up (the methodology to be used in more rural areas still is being researched.) Separate trucks (Pelican I1 closed-body recycling vehicles, Labrie over-the-top loaders or Eager Beaver closed-body trucks) are used, as well as separate one-person operations. The only sorting done on the trucks is the separation of newspapers from mixed recyclables. During the pilot program, the mixed materials were hand-separated in Johnston; they now are being stockpiled pending completion of the materials recovery facility in early 1989.

Materials separated at the recovery facility will be sold to companies who will use them to make new products. Customers for the Rhode Island project include American Waste Paper Company, Reynolds Aluminum, Anchor Glass, Vulcan Metal, Eaglebrook Plastics and Wellman (also for plastics). The state was assisted in procuring these users by New England CRInc., a North Billerica, MA processor, manufacturer and broker.

continued

Procedure: (continued)

East Greenwich:

West Warwick:

Rhode Island Case Study page three

Environmental Management (DEM) also hadn’t completed its planned cost-benefit analysis to determine the extent of future plastics recycling. According to the DEM, sales values for various recyclables were estimated to be: $28/ton ($9.80/cu.yd.) for glass; $20/ton ($51 cu.yd.) for newspapers; $1360/ton ($33.32/cu.yd.) for aluminum; $100/ton ($2/cu.yd.) for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from plastic soda bottles, and $500/ton ($lO/cu.yd.) for high density polyethylene (HDPE) from plastic milk jugs.

In October 1987, half the residents of East Greenwich were given the opportunity to take part in the town’s recycling pilot program. About 89.1 percent of the eligible residents participated, exceeding the state’s projection of 75 percent involvement. State officials also had projected a 12.8 percent reduction in the total amount of trash; reduction actually reached 14.01 percent. On April 18, 1988, East Greenwich became the first Rhode Island municipality to extend the recycling program to the entire town. Costs for the recycling program for this community of approximately 1 1,100 persons is $135,000 for the first year. The state will review actual program costs and adjust the grant award for years two and three based on the first year’s results . East Greenwich is the richest town in the state of Rhode Island ($53,193 median income), with a mix of urban, suburban and rural neighborhoods. East Greenwich has a citizens recycling committee and had been collecting newspapers at curbside monthly for several years before the pilot program started. The DEM reports that the town has a fairly high waste-generation rate, and pounds per household (10.9) also have been high.

This community also participated in the pilot program and produced results that exceeded expectations. Again, the state had looked for 75

continued

West Warwick: (continued)

Cranston:

Future Plans:

Rhode Island Case Study page four

percent participation and a 12.8 percent reduction in total trash. In actuality, 83.2 percent of eligible residents took part and trash was reduced by 12.34 percent. Costs for the fiist year of the recycling program serving the entire community of approximately 28,650 persons is $174,000 per year.

West Warwick ranks relatively low in income in the state, with a median income of $28,414, as compared to the state median of $33,647. The town has a mix of urban and suburban neighborhoods, and its waste generation is slightly above the state average. Households for West War- wick, which had no previous municipally sponsored recycling program, average 6.7 1 pounds per week.

The city of Cranston is the third largest municipality in terms of population and household served. Cranston started full scale recycling on August 1, 1988. The city has generated an average of 8.50 pounds per household a week with a weekly participation rate of 73.14. Cranston is currently diverting 13.65 percent of their solid waste through recycling.

By the time all mandated municipalities are on line, the state hopes to be recycling 15 to 20 percent of its waste. Eight programs serving 120,000 households will be on line by December 1988. State officials also are considering a pilot program for mixed plastics in the spring of 1989. An on-truck plastics densification project funded by the National Associa- tion for Plastic Container Recovery (NAPCOR) is set for January 1989.

Plastics Recycling Place:

Contact:

Background:

Procedure:

North Carolina: Charlotte, Mecklenburg County

Brenda Barger Recycling Division Mecklenburg County Engineering 700 N. Tryon Street Charlotte, NC 28202 (704) 336-4279

Begun in February 1987 with approximately 2,400 household participating, Phase I of Mecklenburg County’s curbside recycling program now provides about 9,100 residents with an easy, efficient way to recycle newspapers, glass bottles and jars, metal beverage cans and plastic soft drink and plastic liquor bottles by placing them at the curb in special containers for weekly pickup.

Results of the first year show that at least 74 percent of the eligible households in Charlotte set their recyclables at the curb regularly, with some Mecklenburg County towns reporting even greater participation percentages. Also, telephone surveys of Phase I households indicated that the curbside recycling program was responsible for tripling the percentage of households that said they recycle. The voluntary curbside recycling program is the primary component in Mecklenburg County’s multi-year, long-range solid waste management plan.

Mecklenburg County provides special 10-gallon Curb It! containers to all curbside recycling households. Residents simply collect plastic soft drink and plastic liquor bottles, glass bottles and jars and metal beverage cans and place them in their Curb It! containers. (Newspapers are collected also, but they are placed on top of or beside the container in paper bags . )

Residents place the Curb It! containers at the curb on their trash pick- up day, separating the Curb It! containers from their regular trash.

continued


Plastics Recycling Foundation 1275 K St., NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 371-5200

North Carolina Case Study page two

Procedure: (con finued)

Future Plans:

Drivers of special recyclables collection trucks (one Lodal with three dumping bins and two Amartech trucks with rear loading) empty the containers and take them to a processing center, where the recyclables are prepared for sale.

Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from plastic bottles is granulated at the processing center and sold to St. Jude Polymer, Frackville, PA. The National Association for Plastic Container Recov- ery ("COR), Charlotte, N.C., helped the county get price quotes from plastics buyers. Recycled glass is sent to a local dealer who processes it and sells it to Owens-Illinois, Winston-Salem, N.C. The newspapers are delivered directly to a local paper dealer. Cans go to a scrap metal dealer affiliated with Container Recovery, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Corp.

Residents not yet included in the service or who do not live on a city curbside trash collection route can bring their recyclables to drop-off and commercial buy-back centers located throughout Mecklenburg County.

County officials plan to expand recyclables collection to 7,000 more households beginning November 1988. The project's goal is to include a total of 94,000 single-family dwellings of Charlotte and neighboring towns by September, 1989.

In order to process the volume of recyclables expected when the service is available citywide, Mecklenburg County is planning to build a new materials recovery facility (MRF). The county is awaiting a court decision on a siting suit concerning the facility. If the court decides that the MRF cannot be built at the planned site, county officials may opt to contract with a private firm for processing their re-

September, 1989. Various processing options will be available at the new facility, one of which may be to bale the PET. The city of Char- lotte plans to buy 19 new recycling trucks to handle the recyclables collection.

cyclables. Either way, the M P ? is sr,hedu!P,d to come !XI !ice in

Plastics Recycling Place:

Contact:

Background:

Procedure:

New Jersey: Camden County

Joseph Gilson Camden County, Solid Waste Management 6981 N. Park Drive East Building, Room 305 Pennsauken, NJ 08 109 (609) 757-6914

Camden County’s curbside recycling pilot program is the first of its kind in the nation. It was developed as a cooperative effort among Camden County’s Solid Waste Department, its municipalities, the Center for Plastics Recycling Research (CPRR) at Rutgers University in Piscataway, N. J., and private recycling companies.

This pilot program, initiated and planned by CPRR, is actually a six- month field test to include plastics in its current curbside recycling process. Camden County was chosen for the test because of its previous success in collecting glass, aluminum, steel and newspaper. The county also was one of the first to have a recycling center. Currently, two of the county’s municipalities are participating in the program: Berlin Township and Clementon Borough.

The collected recyclables are taken to Camden County’s Materials Re- covery Facility (MRF), an intermediate processing center, by the municipality and a private hauler. The facility hand-sorts and mechani- cally processes 60 tons of bottles and cans per day for recycling. The plastic bottles, a new addition during the pilot test, are placed in a 40- foot tractor trailer and hauled to the CPRR. The MRF is privately operated by Resource Recovery Systems and Giordano Waste Materi- als. The processing equipment is owned by Camden County.

would like it to be economically feasible to include plastics perma- nently in this county’s curbside collection and recycling program.

I G ~ Gih i i , &ieeior of &ii&ii C ~ i ~ t y ’ s Solid Wajic Dcijkiiiieiii,

continued


Plastics Recycling Foundation 1275 K St., NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 371-5200


Berlin Township :

Camden County Case Study page two

Almost all municipalities in the county are ready and eager to include plastics in their recycling programs as well. The preliminary results from CPRR market research programs indicate that markets for these materials will develop as they are collected.

Although Berlin Township is small - population 5,700 - it was chosen for the program because of its high recycling participation rates.

Before the program began, Berlin recycled oil, newspaper, cardboard boxes, glass and cans. Plastic bottles were added in February 1988 and will continue to be recycled at least for the duration of the six- month pilot program.

Success rates are overwhelming. According to Berlin Township Mayor Paul F. Farms, participation rates are almost 100 percent. Farms credits the new 20-gallon recycling containers provided by the CPRR as the reason for the program’s success. Collection rates for all recyclables have tripled since the program began.

Before the development of Berlin Township’s pilot program, each material had to be separated by the resident into different containers. Since then, however, the town has switched to a single-container system in which all recyclables are placed in one bin. Each household now places all its recyclables (except newspapers) into the special yellow, plastic recycling container on “trash day.” Newspapers are bundled and placed on top of the bin. Garbage pick-up is followed within an hour or two by the township’s “Eager Beaver” truck, a compartmentalized flatbed pulled by a pick-up truck. Owned and operated by the township, the “Eager Beaver,” hauls the recyclables to the Camden County Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted 2nd rec12imed.

To promote the new curbside recycling program, a letter from Camden County officials was sent to residents, to explain the program and

continued

Berlin Township: (continued)

Clementon Borough:

Camden County Case Study page three

identify recyclables. Letters also were sent from Berlin’s mayor and the CPRR, urging residents to participate and supplying them with more information on the program.

The biggest savings to Berlin Township projected thus far are in landfill costs. It is estimated that the municipality will save $30,000 annually.

Clementon Borough - population 5,800 - has been recycling for several years. It was one of the first municipalities to collect and recycle mixed bottles and cans. The borough has used a single small container system for mixed recyclables since it began its recycling program. Newspapers are placed in paper bags and placed with the recycling container. Regular trash is picked up once a week, while recyclables are picked up every other week. Pick-up is on the same day for everything to make it easier for the residents.

Clementon has no investment in equipment; it pays a monthly fee to O’Connor Corp. Division of Waste Management, Inc., to haul both trash and recyclables. The Clementon program, according to Rob Allen, general manager, is also an experiment for the hauler, which is collecting the mixed plastic, bottles and cans for the first time.

According to Mayor Richard Wooster, Clementon Borough should see a savings of 25-40 percent at the end of the six-month pilot program. The borough has the potential to save $40,000 in landfill costs. The goal is to have a “cost-avoidance” program versus a profit-oriented one.

To promote the new pilot test, ads were placed in the local newspaper. Letters from the CPRR and Camden County officials also were sent to residents, explaining the program and what should be recycled.

Like Berlin Township, Clementon hopes to continue recycling plastics after the pilot program is completed.


Future Plans:

Mount Olive Case Study page two

The plastic beverage containers collected by Mount Olive are taken to the Center for Plastics Recycling Research (CPRR) at Rutgers Univer- sity, Piscataway, N.J. The township has an agreement with CPRR to supply them with recyclable plastics through the end of 1989. News- papers and corrugated boxes are sold to a local paper processor. Abca Glass of Kearny, N.J., buys the glass and aluminum cans from the township.

According to Director Matteo, Mount Olive is very interested in continuing its successful plastics recycling program, and the township welcomes the option of a materials recycling facility in the near future.

-----".* ~

Plastics Recycling ___- ___--

Place:

Contact:

Background:

California: City of San Jose

Christine Velez Manager, Curbside Recycling Program City of San Jose, Department of Solid Waste 801 N. First St., Rm. 460 San Jose, CA 951 10 (408) 277-4509

Ken Newman Plant Supervisor Recycle America 1140 Campbell Ave. San Jose, CA 95126 (408) 243- 1323

In 1984, San Jose's city council decided to do something about the city's solid waste crisis before they were "up against the wall." Bids went out for the city's residential garbage collection and disposal. Waste Management, Inc., won a five-year contract for residential garbage collection. BFI Industries won a 30-year contract for city use of its landfill. The council determined that the bid process and subse- quent awards meant substantial savings for the taxpayers: it would have cost the city $6O-million above the price of the contract awards to collect and landfill San Jose's waste. Because the collection of recyclables was not part of the original contract with Waste Management Inc., an additional agreement was made with that company upon its acquiring the Recycle America subsidiary.

In 1985, the city (p. 732,000) started a pilot curbside collection program for 20,000 households. Glass, newspaper and cans were the only 1cLyLlaUlcs L;ullcLlcu a1 LIIal LlIllC. 1 w u IIclglIuullIuuu3 WClC LIIU3CII. One was given containers to separate out their recyclables; the other was not supplied with specific containers. While participation rates in

---- *- l -Ll - - - - l l - -* -A -* *L^L *:-- rp --.- --:,tL,-t,,A" -1.

continued


Plastics Recycling Foundation 1275 K St., NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 371 -5200

San Jose Case Study page two

Background: (continued)

Procedure:

both neighborhoods where higher than expected, the neighborhood provided with containers participated more than twice as much - 72 percent versus 35 percent - as the neighborhood that had to supply its own. Based on these findings, the city decided to provide all the households with containers, a move that increased all participation significantly.

San Jose’s voluntary curbside program was expanded to 60,000 households in May 1986 and finally went citywide in August 1987. In De- cember of 1987, plastic soda bottles were added to the curbside collection program.

Overall, 58 percent of the San Jose population participates in the city’s curbside recycling program.

Each week on “trash day,” glass, plastic bottles without their caps, newspapers and cans are set out at the curb in three stackable 10- gallon containers owned and provided by the city. The plastic bottles and cans are put in the one container; glass in another; newspapers in the third. The recyclables are collected by a Recycle America open- body truck with three self-dumping bins. Regular trash pick-up is provided by a different Waste Management truck on the same day.

The recyclables are brought to an intermediate processing facility where plastic bottles and cans are separated and baled. Recycle Amer- ica is responsible for seeking the best markets and prices for all the materials collected. Baled plastic bottles are sold to Plastics Recycling Corporation of California.

Although San Jose’s curbside recycling program is subsidized by the city, revenues have exceeded their projections. Participation rates

continued


San Jose Case Study page three

continue to grow: Between June and July of 1988, the plastic bottle collections increased from 2.6 tons to 5.65 tons - the biggest in- crease since the beginning of the program.

San Jose officials attribute the new participation rates to an increased awareness of the recyclables program. In addition to media coverage, both the city and Waste Management are running advertisements on television promoting the recycling effort. The city’s Solid Waste De- partment will distribute door hangers shaped like plastic bottles to provide individual residents with additional information about the program.

Plastics Recycling Foundation 1275 K Street, N.W.

Suite 400 Washington, DC 20005

(202) 371-5200

Center for Plastics Recycling Research Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Busch Campus, Bldg. 3529 Piscataway, New Jersey 08855

(201) 932-3683

plastics recycling: collection case studies - …infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/30/29631.pdfplastics...

Documents