THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 14, 1994 TAG: 9410140590
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
It used to be that you couldn't give it away. All of those bottles, cans and newspapers dutifully recycled by the environmentally conscientious were close to worthless.
Now, all of that trash is starting to translate to cash.
Newspaper, milk jugs, grass snippets are all hot commodities commanding top dollar. Demand has surged so much for used materials like paper that the Chicago Board of Trade will start trading it and glass as recycled commodities in 1995.
``The perception of recycling has improved,'' said Trey Diamonstein, Newport News operations manager for Chambers Waste Systems of Virginia Inc. ``With all the curbside programs, it's easier to do. The participation is better. The market has improved because of the quantities and the uses they've found for the material.''
Why are these leftovers now so valuable? The economic recovery has increased demand for raw materials and manufacturers have committed to building mills that process recycled products, making the process less expensive.
``The last year represents the beginning of the maturing of the recycling industry,'' said Ralph Earle, an environmental strategist with A.D. Little Inc., a consulting firm. He said investments over the past six to eight years in equipment to collect, transport and process recycled material have created momentum for the industry.
Local companies like Chambers and the Southeastern Public Service Authority say recycling programs have turned into moneymakers. A few years ago newspaper was hard to give away, let alone sell. Now it's selling for at least $10 a ton.
Plastic, glass, cardboard, tin cans, aluminum and tires, and even grass clippings are in demand because all of them can be used for something else. Aluminum, the most valuable of all the materials, is selling for $970 a ton.
Like most other goods, prices fluctuate based on supply and demand in the market.
SEPSA, which collects residential garbage throughout South Hampton Roads, started a local program for yard waste that produces mulch and compost sold at half the market price. Profits from selling recycled material helps the regional agency hold down its trash collection and landfill fees.
``People participate in recycling programs because they feel it's the right thing to do,'' said Joe Thomas, SEPSA recycling director. ``That's really their primary motivation. It's hard for them to see the payback.''
The lion share of demand for recycled material used to be in developing nations, like China. They were a cheap source of raw materials.
Now manufacturers who developed or made the original products, like detergent and beverages, buy back the materials to use a combination of used and new materials in their products.
Indeed, recycling is becoming a significant line of business for some other companies, as well. Some companies can sell recycled paper for about 15 percent more than it costs to collect and process it.
Browning-Ferris Industries, the nation's second-largest trash hauler, expects recycling revenue to approach $400 million this year, or about 10 percent of its total. As recently as 1989, recycling amounted to less than 1 percent of the company's revenue.
``This is the fastest-growing business we have,'' said Philip Angell, an aide to William D. Ruckelshaus, Browning-Ferris' chairman. ``And the margins are in the mid-teens, which produces respectable profits.'' MEMO: The New York Times contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: File photo
Recycling glass
KEYWORDS: RECYCLABLE MATERIAL RECYCLING by CNB