ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270040
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS THE ROANOKE TIMES
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 28, 1997.
Clarification
Roanoke County residents who separate their own recycables will be
allowed to keep their bins when curbside service ends this summer. Those
who mix all recyclables in a single can will be required to turn in the
cans.
Residents will have to take their paper, plastic and aluminum to one of six drop-off points.
Roanoke County, the first county in Virginia to have curbside recycling, will drop that program this summer in favor of cheaper drop-off sites.
The Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday night to remove the curbside program from the county's 1997-98 budget and replace it with six drop-off points throughout the county.
The county is spending $85,000 this year on its curbside program, which serves 3,700 households. The same amount will be budgeted for the drop-off program. County officials will seek bids from private companies to collect the recyclable materials from the drop-off centers.
Sites likely will include grocery stores and schools. Supervisors discussed putting some drop-off centers at parks but rejected the idea.
Roanoke County began its recycling program in October 1987 with the intent of expanding it countywide. After nearly a decade, fewer than 15 percent of county residents have the service.
Supervisors have raised concerns for more than a year that tax dollars are being used for a service that benefits only a small percentage of the county's population. However, they were equally hesitant to increase spending on recycling.
Bill Rand, director of general services, estimated it would cost $1.14million up front and $220,200 annually to operate a countywide commingled recycling program, in which all materials are dumped into a single bin and separated later.
If the countywide program relied on homeowners to separate the materials themselves, the price would drop to $800,000 up front and $181,000 annually. The annual cost would be offset by about $59,500 from sales of recyclable materials. The county receives no money for recyclables that are mixed together.
Residents of North Lakes, one of the subdivisions that receives curbside recycling, said they were disappointed, but they also said school improvements should take priority over the recycling program.
Christine Camper said she already is accustomed to using drop-off centers even though she has curbside service. She hauls glass to a drop-off center because the county doesn't accept glass, and she takes cardboard to Cycle Systems, a business specializing in recycling, because it's too bulky to put in her recycling bin.
"If you want to recycle, you'll find another way to do it," she said.
However, Curtis Strucktemeyer said most people won't recycle unless it's made easy for them.
"I'll probably do a little bit of it, but I won't do as good a job as if I just had to wheel it out in front of my house once a month," he said.
King Harvey, president of the North Lakes Civic League, said his organization will discuss recycling at its next meeting and may ask supervisors to reconsider their decision.
"That's really going to put an undue burden on people, especially the elderly people," Harvey said.
Rand said Roanoke County is obligated to recycle 25 percent of its trash under state and federal mandates, but residential recyclables represented only 2 percent of the 37 percent that was recycled last year.
County officials asked Roanoke City Council and Vinton Town Council to consider joining in a regional recycling program to reduce costs to all three. Neither indicated interest. Salem uses drop-off centers.
Roanoke city's curbside program costs $219,100 annually for 23,000 households, or about two-thirds of the homes in the city. The city offsets part of that cost with $59,100 from sales of recyclable materials.
Supervisors expressed doubt that the city is recycling as cheaply as it could with a regional program, but county officials wanted to pursue a commingled system using one-armed bandits, whereas city crews load separated recyclables into individual bins at each residence.
"I'm tired of beating my head against this wall," Supervisor Chairman Bob Johnson said. "I've bloodied it enough."
Rand said the county plans to collect the recycling bins from homes served by the curbside program.
Storage of the bins could create problems at first, he said, but they will be offered to county residents who find the regular 90-gallon trash barrels too large for their household garbage needs.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/THE ROANOKE TIMES. Homer West tosses aby CNBplastic bottle into a recycling bin at Kroger at Lake Drive Plaza.
Some Roanoke County residents have curbside pickup of recyclables,
but they'll be joining West this summer at six drop-off points after
the county cuts the program. color.