THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260451
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 52 lines
Curbside recycling in South Hampton Roads is expanding to include three new pickup items - brown glass bottles and jars, aluminum foil and aluminum pie tins.
The changes take effect immediately, and should come as good news to environmentally conscious beer drinkers. Until now, beer fans had to throw away their empty brown bottles or haul them to a local drop-off center.
The new list of curbside items, announced Thursday by the Southeastern Public Service Authority, affects thousands of homes in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Franklin and in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties.
Virginia Beach, once SPSA's biggest customer, withdrew from the curbside program July 1, due partly to complaints that SPSA's list of recyclable items was too limited.
The resort city has since expanded a do-it-yourself drop-off program, and may adopt its own curbside system.
SPSA can accept a wider variety of goods now because of recent improvements in its collection method, said Joe Thomas, the trash agency's director of recycling.
After curbside recycling started in 1989, SPSA crews would pull up to a home in their trucks, sortthrough blue recycling bins and separate materials into precise categories - one for steel and aluminum cans, one for clear glass bottles, one for newspapers, one for plastic bottles, one for batteries.
This spring, SPSA started separating goods into just two truck compartments - one for newspapers and one for everything else. This saved considerable time and storage space, allowing the agency to expand its recycling menu, Thomas said.
The new ``commingling'' collection system is possible because SPSA's recycling contractor, Tidewater Fibre Corp., recently built a special sorting center. Separation work once done at the curb can now be done at the center.
Thomas said SPSA will soon collect more types of plastics from a test community, which hasn't been selected yet. If taking plastic food jars proves safe and economical there, he said, SPSA may expand into that market as well.
Thomas was not optimistic about accepting green bottles any time soon. He said the market for used green glass is weak, with the nearest buyer outside of Virginia.
The agency also announced Thursday that it will accept old telephone books for the next nine weeks in curbside recycling bins. Businesses with 50 books or less can use SPSA's recycling drop-off centers. Those with more can call SPSA's recycling office for instructions, at 548-2256.
KEYWORDS: CURBSIDE RECYCLING SPSA by CNB