Curbside recycling in America may not yet be old enough to have created multi-volume histories of the origins and evolution of the practice. But should a team of writers start working on such a publishing project, their research will certainly take them to the Town of Islip, N.Y., on Long Island.
Islip may be remembered by some as one of the origins of the "garbage barge" that spurred a wider public interest in solid waste issues.
Perhaps more noteworthy, though, has been the town’s sustained response to the handling of solid waste within its borders, including acting as host of one of America’s longest-running municipal recycling efforts.
CAUGHT IN THE SPOTLIGHT. Solid waste policy seldom breaks into the forward portions of newscasts, but in 1987 a bizarre story involving a barge loaded with garbage caught the media’s and the public’s attention.
The misbegotten Mobro 4000, which was refused docking space at several destinations, came to be referred to as the "garbage barge." The ship’s difficulties in offloading its solid waste cargo (which emanated from Long Island) caused hand wringing for civic officials and spurred many citizens to call for changes in solid waste handling policies.
Among those municipalities that re-examined their solid waste plans was the Town of Islip. Although carrying the word "town" as part of its name, Islip consists of 24 villages and small cities merged together to form what amounts to a medium-sized city of 310,000 people and considerable commercial activity.
With 80,000 households to serve, the Town of Islip has to provide a considerable amount and variety of recycling services to its residents. The payoff, though, is access to a healthy amount of old newspapers (ONP) and other paper grades if it is able to manage its program well.
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Encouraging recycling at the consumer level may be as easy as re-branding the "product." This was the thrust of the Sept. 16 National Recycling Coalition (NRC) Congress & Exhibition plenary session delivered by Candy Cox of DDB Bass & Howes, an advertising firm with locations worldwide. DDB’s conclusions about the recycling brand were based on a survey of 3,500 consumers, on-the-street interviews and trend scans from U.S. newspapers and magazines. Cox used advertisements to illustrate her points. The recycling brand is more than a logo or a name, Cox said, but what the customer knows and thinks about it. During the years, a product’s image must change in order to keep it relevant and to add to its customer base, she added. However, the recycling image has stagnated since it was first introduced in the 1970s. Those in the recycling industry could learn a thing or two by studying the re-branding of companies such as McDonalds and J.C. Penney, Cox suggested, showing recent commercials from both companies that appealed to a changing female demographic. "‘Recycling’ belonged to everybody, therefore it belonged to nobody," Cox said. When segments of the recycling industry grew out of the environmental activism of the 1970s, it was sold as the "right thing to do." Cox said, "We believed it and taught others to, and the brand grew." However, the municipal side of the industry may be guilty of assuming that people still agree with this principle, neglecting new customers who may not be as familiar with the concepts behind the recycling "brand" and emerging issues that have displaced recycling in the public’s conscience, Cox explained. "It appears we are losing our share of concern," she said of America’s growing concern about food safety that is interfering with the public’s reception of the recycling message. In addition, the message seems to penetrate select ear canals. According to DDB’s data, the most devoted recyclers tend to belong to older age groups. Of those greater than 45 years of age, 67 percent say they always recycle. Our incomes and lifestyles also affect our tendency to recycle. "Recycling is a middle class activity," Cox said, adding that it is also "politically agnostic" and therefore does not belong to a single political affiliation. Statistics also indicate childless homes do a better job of recycling than homes with children, Cox said. DDB’s study also revealed that convenience plays a major role in the success of a recycling program. People are far less likely to recycle if it is inconvenient or if information about recycling is not readily available. Cox said recycling’s current image suffers from a perceived lack of availability and the complications in sorting recyclable items from non-recyclable items. "It’s hard to sell something that needs consistent and constant activity without a recognizable reward," she added. Her suggestions for re-branding recycling included refocusing the brand, updating messages related to the brand and explaining its benefits. Consumers are looking for convenience, availability and coolness, she said. As a result of the study, Cox suggested that recycling programs simplify service, update and focus their messages and demonstrate the benefits of recycling. At the local level, she also suggested simplifying service, increasing convenience, informing the public and communicating with current and potential customers frequently. As Cox said in closing, a clear message coupled with a clearly illustrated reward equals a happy customer. And a happy customer is good news to the recycling "brand." The National Recycling Coalition’s 22nd Annual Congress & Exhibition was held Sept. 15-17 in Baltimore. —DeAnne Toto |
Islip officials have thus had more than two decades to both experiment with and to learn about managing a curbside program. The result has been an interesting blend of Islip being ahead of the curve on some techniques, while considering and rejecting others.
FINDING WHAT WORKS. Many curbside programs were started with a plan that called for careful source separation, but have subsequently migrated toward single-stream, "throw-it-all-in-one-bin" policies. Islip’s history has been a little different.
"Our program started in 1980 with commingled collection," says Hofmeister. He says it was the only way the town could afford to serve 80,000 households spread out over 105 square miles of area. "The cost of using containerized vehicles seemed too great," he says of source separating.
But what the town was saving in collection costs it was paying for with sorting costs to separate the mixed containers and paper grades.
After considerable planning, the Town constructed a new dual-stream materials recovery facility (MRF) in 1990. The $10 million facility was designed by Cameron Engineering & Associates, Syosset, N.Y., and outfitted with a variety of sorting and conveying equipment. "The ingenuity of those designs was great," says Hofmeister.
He notes that the MRF underwent some design and layout changes as Islip fine-tuned its collection methods, but that the basic plant design and equipment has served for some 12 years.
Shortly after the Islip MRF opened, the town switched its recycling program to a dual-stream model. In its current format, the WRAP/SPLIT program collects household recyclables every Wednesday. Or rather, it collects half of each household’s recyclables every Wednesday.
IF IT’S THE 16th, IT MUST BE PAPER. At the beginning of each year, the Town issues a calendar that designates alternate Wednesdays as either paper collection or metal/glass/plastic collection Wednesdays.
On "paper" Wednesdays, 32-gallon WRAP recycling bins can be filled with ONP, magazines and corrugated boxes. On the alternate Wednesdays, bins can accept steel cans, aluminum beverage cans (although these have a deposit-return value in New York), #1 and #2 plastic containers, glass bottles and jars and even obsolete license plates, as long as they are broken in half.
The town is able to collect all recyclables on Wednesday by using a combination of municipal trucks and workers in conjunction with private contractors.
As of mid-2003, the Islip MRF was employing about 40 people and a variety of sorting and conveying equipment made by General Kinematics, Barrington, Ill., and other manufacturers. According to the plant’s Operations Manager Chris Inman, the paper grades are always processed separately from the container grades collected on alternate Wednesdays.
Material collected on "paper" Wednesdays and brought to the plant is moved from the tipping floor to a pit conveyor that leads to sorting stations where OCC is picked out, as are other brown grades and any plastic bags or other contaminants that are in the stream.
The now cleaner stream of paper heads into a 36-foot-long trommel with 8-inch holes. Magazines and advertising inserts drop through the trommel, while a now-cleaner ONP grade moves forward.
From here, one would expect the various paper streams (OCC and other brown grades separated at the front, as well as the old magazines [OMG] and ONP harvested from the trommel) to head to a baler for compaction for shipment.
But the Islip MRF has no baler. "All materials are shipped loose," says Hofmeister, who notes that one nearby mill accepts the ONP grades loose, while other grades proceed to a nearby paper stock plant to be baled there.
The town has calculated that the short shipping distances make it more affordable to ship loose rather than to pay for a baler, baler operators, baler upkeep and the power and wire costs that accompany baling.
Hofmeister also touts the purity of the paper grades produced as an advantage of its dual-stream, non-baling system. "It has been a market-driven decision," says Hofmeister. "The contamination of the loads was too great when we were collecting commingled materials."
He is complimentary toward the time-tested Islip MRF and its staff. "I think we can credit the facility. Even through ups and downs in the market, we’ve had positive pricing and receive top grading for the ONP shipments."
RETAINING A PROFILE. With more than two decades to put the "garbage barge" out of mind, are Islip’s citizens still interested in recycling? To some extent, they have to be, as curbside cooperation is mandatory.
But Hofmeister and Town of Islip public information officer Patricia Pasciutti say the town still encounters recycling enthusiasts and also works to encourage recycling, rather than just penalize those citizens who do not participate.
Pasciutti says the Town has created two mascot recycling frogs who help spread recycling knowledge in local school districts, and it has also had inspection employees nominate careful, high-volume household recyclers for a "Recycler of the Month" award.
According to facility manager Inman, when the town announces it is accepting a new material in its recycling program, people inevitably show up at the small drop-off center located just outside of the MRF. "Before we can even get started, people will drop off materials."
What recycling coordinators and curbside service contractors could take away from Islip’s two decades of experience is that recycling can become a habit and that maintaining consistency in a program can pay off.
The Town of Islip uses a variety of solid waste and recycling programs to efficiently handle what is generated within its borders, including a C&D landfill, a waste-to-energy plant, a composting drop-off center and its recycling program. Hofmeister says the recycling program is a critical component.
"It makes sense," he states. "Everything that moves through this plant we get paid for."
The author is editor of Recycling Today and can be contacted via e-mail at btaylor@RecyclingToday.com.
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