Municipal Recycling

The city of Knoxville, Tenn., has agreed to enter into a partnership aimed at sharply increasing residential recycling in the city.

Through a program called the "Model City Initiative," Knoxville has agreed to allow the American Beverage Association (ABA) and The Climate Group to work with city staffers to survey its current recycling rate and to create a plan to increase recovery levels.

The city will receive up to $200,000 worth of services to aid in the study and planning process.

The ABA and The Climate Group say they hope to add more "model cities" to the program in the future, but selected Knoxville as the first city in the Southeast after looking at several possible choices in the region.

"A lot of our citizens have expressed interest in increased recycling opportunities, particularly a possible city-wide curbside recycling program," Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam says. "This is an opportunity to receive some excellent technical assistance to see where we are and where we can go."

Haslam adds that the survey will help city officials assess the costs and benefits of a curbside residential program.

Currently, Knoxville’s Public Service Department, Solid Waste Division, offers 11 drop-off centers for recyclables, which recovered around 6,000 tons of recyclables in 2008. The city receives between $450,000 and $500,000 in revenue for the material based on market conditions. The cost of the program runs from $450,000 to $550,000 and is based on residents’ usage of the centers and transportation of the recyclables to a recovery facility.

Waste Connections, the city’s contractor for household garbage pickup, also offers curbside recycling to city residents as a private, for-pay service. About 1,500 households participate in that program. The curbside program results in approximately 450 tons of recyclable material each year.

Preliminary estimates indicate the amount of recyclable material collected curbside could increase from 6,000 tons to more than 20,000 tons if the city transitions to a curbside recycling program. A major focus of the "Model City" initiative will be a survey to gauge the interest city residents have in taking part in such a program.

Other grant items will include a comprehensive waste study and a financial analysis of the city’s current waste disposal methods and access to a database program to monitor changes in that system.

The ABA and The Climate Group also have formed a partnership to boost recycling initiatives. Under this agreement, the ABA, with its Full Circle Plan, becomes a founding member of The Climate Group’s Recycle Together initiative.

"Through Recycle Together we hope to see more beverage containers recycled and we also want to encourage more businesses and industries to partner with us to improve recycling across the country and reduce the impact on the environment," says Susan Neely, ABA president and CEO.

The Climate Group’s work on Recycle Together will be driven by its new office in Washington, D.C., headed by Kate Krebs, who also recently joined The Climate Group as director of sustainable resources. Krebs leads Recycle Together and her responsibilities include seeking new partners to join the initiative.

As part of the Full Circle Plan, the beverage industry has worked to make lighter containers, use more recycled content and increase the recyclability of its containers.