THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 1, 1996 TAG: 9607010024
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 115 lines
As unveilings go, this one might have been ignored by just about everyone. But there it was, a big, brown metal box with holes in the side and signs reading ``newspapers,'' ``plastics,'' ``metals'' and ``glass.''
The bin, in the parking lot of Green Run High School, represented the city's answer to how it will meet the community's recycling needs now that it has dropped out of the Southeastern Public Service Authority's curbside program.
Fifty are located throughout the city to replace the white ``igloos'' that once were the centerpiece of Virginia Beach's recycling effort, considered the most successful in Virginia.
The new bins also are intended to replace the familiar 14-gallon blue boxes that are the mainstay of SPSA's regional recycling effort. Citing cost, inefficiencies and a proposed $1 per household monthly fee, Virginia Beach dropped out of the program, effective today, even though the SPSA board later lowered the fee 50 cents. The city claimed that even the lower amount was too high for the service provided.
City leaders are counting on citizens' tradition of environmental goodwill to make the trip to the new bins while an automated curbside program is studied.
``There is a portion of the population that is committed to recycling whether it is at the curbside or at a drop-off center,'' said Debra C. Devine, the city's recycling coordinator.
``But I am not so naive to think that some people won't go beyond their driveways. I'm sorry about that. In the long run, we know that convenience is the name of the game and that's why we are studying an automated curbside program.''
The enhanced drop-off centers, she said, will one day be replaced with 65-gallon containers, delivered to nearly 112,000 homes. Placed at curbside once a month, or even bimonthly, the containers will hold all common household recyclables.
``Our curbside service will be a good example of an environmentally and economically sound solution,'' she predicted.
In an effort to boost enthusiasm for the program, the city announced this week it will accept all grades of consumer plastic - numbers 1-7 - including yogurt cups, grocery store bags, Styrofoam cups and the customary milk and soda jugs.
Recyclables will be taken to Mount Trashmore II, where New England CRInc, under contract with the city, will sort, bundle and sell the recyclables in national markets. The city collects a small percentage.
The move to accept all grades of plastic has prompted some skepticism within the recycling community. Virginia Beach has complained that SPSA, which only accepts grades 1 and 2, did not go far enough to meet customers' needs. But experienced recyclers say there's a reason.
``Markets are the first element you look for in any recycling program,'' said Michael Benedetto, the executive vice president of Tidewater Fibre Corp., which recently renewed a 10-year contract with SPSA.
``Just as real estate has the guiding principle of `Location, location, location,' recycling has the principle of `Markets, markets, markets.' ''
Benedetto wondered how much of grades 3-7 Virginia Beach can expect to unload. The reason, he said, is the notoriously unstable plastics markets.
``The way the market is now, many communities in the country pay to get rid of recyclable materials because there is no market for them,'' he said. Nevertheless, Benedetto said his company is looking into expanding the types of plastics it will take.
``Just because something is placed in a recycling container does not mean it will be recycled,'' Benedetto said. ``If residents start throwing brown glass into the clear glass and they get mixed, then that will be sent to the landfill. That is true with or without Virginia Beach's participation in curbside recycling.''
Devine is confident the markets are there.
``We would not collect it if we did not have a market,'' she said. ``And we have more than one market for this. It is a recycling market, not a waste-to-energy market or going-to-the-landfill market. This is not a static industry. What may have been the case two years ago, does not mean it's the case today.''
Prices for recyclable material are volatile. Prices for recycled plastic, depending on its composition, have ranged from 12 cents a pound to as low as 1.5 cents per pound, according to Rick Kattar, division president of New England CRInc.
Last year, the price for HTPE and PET plastic hit 37 cents before dropping to 10 cents per pound for PET and 6 cents for HTPE. A mix of the two grades yielded about 3 cents per pound, he said.
Paper is no better. White ledger grade, depending on its eventual use, can run from $120 to $200 a ton. Sometimes, newsprint goes for a negative price, meaning cities have to pay to be rid of it.
Clear glass fetches from $10 to $70 a ton while brown tracks along at $45 to $50. Aluminum is the among the most stable, raising 45 to 58 cents a pound, or $900 to $1,160 a ton.
This changeability is what drives Benedetto to question Virginia Beach's ability to find markets.
``For Virginia Beach to say that they can operate a program for less than what SPSA is charging, well, I have not seen the numbers,'' he said. ``I have not seen a program anywhere in the United States that runs for less than what SPSA is offering.''
Plastics 3, 4, 5 and 6 are labor intensive and expensive to process, he said, and there are very few companies that accept them.
``Contamination is a problem with those grades of plastic. That's not to say it can't be recycled, but you won't find a company that takes number 3 plastic without them charging for it.
``I think it's a lot of PR. We stopped the service, but we are not taking more. The city is saying, `Look at all these locations we've set up' and `See what a great job we're doing.' That's really what the city's goals is, PR.
``If these items get recycled, great. If they can afford to pay for the processing of them and sacrifice the revenue by commingling, then that's great, too. But look at how many companies take plastics 1 through 7 and those who take 1-2. Not many.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
The Virginian-Pilot
Debra C. Devine, the Virginia Beach recycling coordinator, stands in
front of one of the new bins the city is using to collect
recyclables. Beside her is a 65-gallon container the city may one
day use in an automated curbside collection system.
KEYWORDS: RECYCLING by CNB