Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 23, 1992 TAG: 9203230086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Like many other Roanoke residents, she participates in the voluntary recycling program that was started a year ago for 4,000 residents.
At first, Smith was reluctant. She didn't like the idea of putting her cans, bottles and other recyclable materials into a container rather than dumping everything into her garbage can.
"It seemed to be a lot of trouble at first, keeping things separate and putting them in different places," she said.
But Smith, who lives on Windsor Avenue Southwest, now finds it convenient.
"I like it. It's no problem," she said.
Nancy Ayling, who lives in Raleigh Court, also likes the recycling program. Her family rolls a container of recyclable materials to the curb every week.
Ayling's only complaint: The rollout containers provided by the city are so light they blow over on a windy day. City officials have advised residents to lay the containers on their sides when it's windy.
Edgar Walters, who lives in the Wilmont Farms neighborhood in Northwest Roanoke, said he has no problems with the program.
"It seems to be working well. It's just me and my wife here, so we don't have as much to put into the container as some other people," Walters said.
City officials are pleased with the first year of the residential recycling program, although it has taken longer than expected to work out the bugs and expand it to other areas. And the amount of recyclable materials has been less than expected.
The city has collected 425 tons of materials since the recycling service began a year ago. Newspapers account for 227 tons, with plastic and glass containers totaling 160 tons. Based on landfill dumping fees, the city saved about $8,500.
The city began collecting recyclable items a year ago in eight neighborhoods in the first phase of what will ultimately be a citywide service.
William Clark, director of public works, said the participation rate has been about 85 percent.
Some residents who refused to participate at first have called and asked for a container, Clark said.
"We are happy about the rate of participation, but the quantity has not been what we expected," he said.
City officials are studying the possibility of providing the service every other week instead of weekly when it is expanded to other areas.
"Maybe some people just don't have enough to justify the collection service every week," Clark said.
The city collects steel, metal and aluminum cans, newspapers, glass bottles and jars, plastic soft-drink and milk containers.
The residents have been provided with 32-gallon rollout containers with bins for separating and storing recyclable materials.
Clark said the containers appear to be large enough to store recyclable materials for many residents for two weeks.
At first, most residents set out their containers every week, even if they were only partially filled. This made it difficult for the two-man crew to cover the 4,000 houses each week. So the city advised residents to roll out the containers only when they were full.
The voluntary recycling program was to have been expanded to 9,000 households by the end of 1991. But that was delayed because the additional recycling trucks did not arrive until recently.
The city plans to expand the recycling service to other neighborhoods in May, but officials have not identified them.
Clark said the city frequently gets calls from residents wanting to know when the recycling service will begin in their neighborhoods.
Three years ago, a survey showed that 93 percent of city residents would be willing to recycle if the materials were picked up at their houses. The program will be phased in over the next three to four years to include all 38,000 residences in the city.
Recycling saves landfill space and helps the city meet a state mandate to recycle 25 percent of its solid waste by 1995.
For economic reasons, the city needs to reduce the volume of trash that is buried in the landfill. The landfill dumping fee has increased from $11 to $20 per ton in recent years. It is projected to triple when the new landfill is opened next year.
The recyclable materials have been sold to Cycle Systems, a Roanoke recycling company that agreed to take them for a year.
City officials hoped the sale of recyclable materials would pay the operational costs for the service after the containers, trucks and other equipment were bought. But the program is not breaking even because the market for recyclable materials is depressed, Clark said.
Starting up the service has been expensive. The city paid $180,000 for 9,000 containers. It has also bought three recycling trucks at a cost of $75,000 each.
The first phase has included these neighborhoods: Fairview, Wilmont Farms, Round Hill, Garden City, Monterey Hills, Colonial Heights, Edgehill, Franklin Road and Raleigh Court.
Officials wanted a diverse group of neighborhoods that reflected the city's social, economic and racial makeup.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.