THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509270008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
Tidewater Fibre is a local recycler that has been in business for more than 20 years. I have some concerns to address about the recent article ``Beach, SPSA compete for trash.''
The Southeastern Public Service Authority is a regional authority. The members are Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Franklin and Isle of Wight. As mentioned in the article, it is highly unusual for Virginia Beach and SPSA to compete against each other in an extensive drop-off program.
SPSA already has a successful curbside program and drop-off site in place. The low cost of the SPSA program is included in each city's landfill fees. Therefore, the city is paying for a second program of its own. A duplication of efforts only can cost taxpayers additional dollars.
Now the city wants to sell its recyclables in the commodities market. The market is very volatile. An inexperienced seller can loose thousands of dollars. The market price has dropped by more than 40 percent for many recyclables in the past few months. What happens when the city has to pay to recycle its material or, worse, has no place to recycle it? Virginia Beach has landfilled newspapers in the past.
As Virginia Beach continues to compete with SPSA to collect the same recyclables, the efficiency of both programs decreases and costs increase to all cities in the region. This program is a major gamble with taxpayer dollars.
JOYCE HEDISH, marketing director
Tidewaer Fibre Corp.
Chesapeake, Sept. 14, 1995 by CNB