THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511030212
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 172 lines
WHILE YOU CAN recycle aluminum cans in your big blue curbside bin, you cannot recycle aluminum siding and aluminum lawn furniture. Even if they are neatly chopped up and bundled, as some have tried.
While you can recycle newspapers, you cannot recycle messy, soiled newspapers used to potty train your dog.
And while we're at it, it's SPSA on the side of the big burgundy trucks for Southeastern Public Service Authority, not SPCA for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals. And the PET notation on the truck is for a specific variety of plastic, not your family's expired cat.
``You name it, I've seen it,'' said 35-year-old Jerry Cunningham, one of SPSA's swiftest recycling collectors.
Cunningham, the startled recipient of the dead cat, has reached into the bins and found dollar bills, a bag of pennies, male and female undergarments, used condoms, dirty diapers, toys, banana peels, maggots, roaches, etc.
``If it's nasty, I'm not going to touch it,'' he said.
Anyway, he can't. SPSA accepts only specific kinds of aluminum, steel, glass, paper and plastics for recycling. The rest gets left behind in the bin, usually with what's known in the trade as an ``Oops Note,'' explaining SPSA's policies.
Now that the regional garbage authority just completed expanding its curbside recycling program to nearly every South Hampton Roads single family home, many more residents need to be made aware of what the program does and does not accept.
``We need to educate the public more,'' said John A. Groh Sr., recycling collections superintendent.
As of the end of October, 240,000 homes in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Franklin, Southampton and Isle of Wight counties were receiving curbside recycling service. That's up from 150,000 in March.
To accommodate the additional volume, SPSA cut back on its pickups and is now collecting recyclables every other week, as opposed to every week.
It was believed that this expansion would cover every single family home in the region. But SPSA is now learning that small pockets of homes have been missed. SPSA is now working with the cities to identify who's been passed over and to get the service to them.
``There's an opportunity for maybe another 20,000 homes,'' said J.J. ``Joe'' Thomas, recycling director.
That's even more people who need to be educated.
Some of the contraband materials found in the blue bins may be an amusing annoyance - like the airplane fashioned out of beer cans that's now suspended from Thomas' office ceiling with paper clips. While the most of the airplane is recyclable, the nose cone, which appears to be a plastic egg from pantyhose packaging, is not.
But others are downright serious - like hypodermic needles, which are found with surprising frequency (about one a month).
The needles, which are not recyclable anyway, pose health and safety hazards to SPSA drivers who hand sort all the items contained in the bins before tossing them in designated compartments on the truck. Despite requirements to wear heavy work gloves, at least one driver has been stuck through the gloves.
The driver was so traumatized by the injury and subsequent battery of medical tests, including tests for AIDS and hepatitis, that she was taken off her route permanently and reassigned to a lower-paying office job. The tests proved negative.
Another hazard is the byproducts of dirty bins and food containers that have not been rinsed out, like maggots and roaches.
``They're not garbage cans and we're not garbage men,'' said Thomas, explaining that SPSA drivers touch each item as opposed to garage truck drivers who typically don't physically handle the trash.
Thomas urges residents to just throw away recyclable containers that are difficult to wash, like sticky dog food cans. Cans are separated from the trash for recycling anyway with a big magnet; it's just a more expensive method.
Cunningham's personal pet peeve is milk jugs that have not been rinsed out and therefore are sour. Because many residents don't crush their containers like they're supposed to, it becomes the drivers' responsibility.
``I've learned to hold them out and away from me when I crush them,'' Cunningham said. ``If I get it on me, I'm not a happy camper. I can smell it on me all day. In the summer time, it's really bad.''
The region is serviced by an army of 50 burgundy trucks and their drivers. Drivers stop at every home with a blue bin out front, sort the items in the bins and deposit them in marked sections of the truck. Newspaper is by far the greatest volume collected.
The material is taken to a local recycler, Tidewater Fibre Inc. in Chesapeake, which pays SPSA based on the tonnage and current market prices.
Curbside recycling has never been a money maker for SPSA, but that could change with upswings in the market.
Still, the $45 per ton it cost SPSA in September to provide the service is less than fees individual cities would pay to collect and dispose of the garbage in the landfill, Thomas said. The landfill tipping fee alone is $48, he added.
Broken down even more, curbside recycling cost taxpayers 31 cents per home in September.
While curbside recycling costs more than traditional drop-off recycling centers, it encourages a greater participation by making it convenient for residents to recycle.
``There's no question that this kind of recycling is the most environmentally friendly thing you can look at,'' Thomas said. ``There's no byproducts, no waste. It's really a good deal.''
With its single-family home service virtually complete, SPSA is looking to the future.
Thomas said his agency is studying the possibility of accepting more varieties of materials, for example, colored glass, mixed paper and cardboard. This could be accomplished by ceasing to sort materials at curbside, which would speed collection time, and by adding apartment and townhouse complexes to increase the volume.
The agency is now studying if the additional volume and manpower savings would make up for the lower price it would get for a truck of mixed materials.
``There's a whole lot of opportunities that could come up for us,'' Thomas said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
The region is serviced by an army of 50 burgundy trucks. Drivers,
like Jerry Cunningham, stop at every home with a blue bin out front.
As of the end of October, some 240,000 area homes were receiving the
service.
ABOVE: Jerry Cunningham checks his route through the Aragona section
of Virginia Beach. SPSA service has expanded to an additional
150,000 customers since March but has cut back on pickups to every
other week. SPSA is working to identify some small pockets of homes
who have been passed over.
RIGHT: Jerry Cunningham sorts recyclables, including newspaper,
which is by far the greatest volume collected. The material is taken
to a local recycler, Tidewater Fibre Inc. in Chesapeake, which pays
SPSA based on the tonnage and current market prices.
BY THE NUMBERS
Curbside recycling for the month of September, 1995 (227,000
homes in South Hampton Roads):
Newspaper1,387 tons
Soda bottles49 tons
Milk, detergent jugs38 tons
Clear glass182 tons
Aluminum cans29 tons
Tin cans38 tons
Total1,723 tons
RECYCLING RULES
ACCEPTABLE MATERIALS
Metals: Beverage and food cans (aluminum and steel). Rinse out
well.
Glass: Clear bottles and jars only. Rinse, remove caps and rings;
labels OK.
Paper: Newspaper only. Place papers in paper grocery bag or tie
with string. Get papers on top of or beside your bin.
Plastics: One-, two- or three-liter soft drink bottles; milk,
water and detergent bottles. Rinse and crush.
Dry cell batteries: Flashlight, radio, watch, hearing aid and
other household batteries.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS
Have your bin out by 7 a.m. on your collection day.
Crush your cans and plastic bottles to save space in your bin and
on the truck.
Bring your bin into your house as soon as possible after pickup
to prevent theft. Also, write your name and address on the side of
your bin with a laundry marker.
Use cardboard boxes, clear plastic bags, buckets, etc. for extra
materials, but put only one type of material in the extra
containers. To buy an extra bin, call the SPSA Recycling Department
at 548-2256.
KEYWORDS: RECYCLING SPSA by CNB