Sweetening the Deal

Southerners like their iced tea sweet. They also are finding ways to sweeten lawmakers’ views of recycling programs. The secret, it seems, is in presenting the recycling industry and related municipal programs as a contributor to the economy and a business opportunity—not as an expense supported by Birkenstock-clad activists. That economic development slant is like the sprig of mint that gives the tea its kick.

From Tennessee to Texas, cities and states are realizing success by treating recycling as a business development opportunity

Several regions are mirroring the Carolina Recycling Association’s program. "Right now, we are pushing a statistical portrait of the industry," says Kerry Krumsiek, executive director of the group, which is based in Pittsboro, N.C. "We are pushing the economic development aspects."

The goal is to get lawmakers and the public to understand that they are sitting on top of a big industry. "The public image should not be garbage barges and grassroots collection," Krumsiek says.

Rather, he points to the 20,000 recycling-related jobs in South Carolina and the 14,000 in North Carolina. In South Carolina, that represents $750 million in payroll. Overall, that gives recyclers in the Palmetto State a $1.4 billion impact on the state’s economy. In North Carolina, it figures to about $1 billion.

"The waste stream is increasing, but we’ve created a lot more jobs," Krumsiek continues. "Jobs and the economic impact are helping us carry the message."
As the association discussed at its late-March meeting, the 14,000 people employed in North Carolina represents a 60 percent increase from 1994’s 8,700 workers. "We can double that again," Krumsiek says. "It is easy today for us to say that recycling is a billion-dollar industry. But what we need to ask lawmakers is: How would you like to help us go to $2 billion?"

It opens eyes (and legislative doors) when recyclers tell legislators that recycling provides more jobs in North Carolina than either biotech or livestock agriculture.

The number of companies listing recycling as their business has jumped from 306 in 1994 to 532 in 2004, a 74 percent increase.

"While there has been some decline in the number of curbside efforts, I’d say the general health of programs (in the Carolinas) is good, overall," says Krumsiek. The number of curbside recycling programs has slipped every year since it peaked at 261 in 1998. In 2003-04, there were 212 programs.

"But the number of households covered increased to over a million," he says.

They tried the economic development route in Alabama in the 1990s. However, the program has been somewhat shoved aside, says Van Clee Johnson, recycling coordinator for Alabama. "A lot of jobs were created, but it has kind of slowed down here," he says.

Curbside programs in the major cities are holding their own. But like most places, there are budget constraints.

"Many of our cities look at recycling as a non-profit proposition," Johnson says. "Others take it on as a service, not for dollars and cents," he continues. "It is a needed service. In both cases, local recycling coordinators do their best to keep the programs alive."

Money remains tight in Alabama. Recycling programs are run, not by an environmental protection department, but by the Alabama Energy Office. Funding comes from a Federal Department of Energy (DOE) grant.

Under the DOE program, cities or counties can get $10,000 to start or expand a program.

"We’re not as fortunate as well-funded states like Florida," Johnson says wishfully. Alabama allocates no state money for recycling.

Yet, there is hope for improvement. Johnson is keeping an eye on a bill that will allocate money to sponsor and promote recycling in Alabama.

In North Carolina, legislation also is under consideration. Krumsiek is pushing a tip-fee surcharge. "The fact that this can come to the table at all is a good sign."

Krumsiek says he hopes that well-conceived and well-written legislation will be seen in South Carolina this year, as well.

NASHVILLE’S CURBY. In Nashville, the "Curby" program continues to be a success, thanks in part to a good public relations plan, to a well designed and economical plan of action and to a trash-cart program.

The garbage routes in the city parallel the recycling routes. By adding carts, the city is able to save $1.3 million after the cost of containers and trucks, says Sherry Sloan, recycling coordinator for Metro Nashville Public Works. Add to that intangibles like better worker health from less lifting and the program is the kind of thing that has lawmakers bragging about "their" ideas rather than complaining about the cost of being green.

"Recycling success is like real estate. It depends on education, education and education," quips Sloan.

Like other cities, Nashville learned from its mistakes. The city tried a bin collection program. "It was a nice pilot, but it didn’t work out," Sloan says. As in other cities, it was found to be expensive and material got wet.

Nashville’s Davidson County has two districts: Urban Services (USD) and General Services (GSD). USD relies on property tax dollars. GSD residents contract privately for waste handling.

Every housing complex in a USD gets at least one 96-gallon recycling cart. The wheeled carts are made of heavy-duty plastic with a heavy lid.

Carts are emptied once a month. "We have an e-mail program that reminds people before their pickup date," Sloan says. "Other than entering the e-mail addresses, the program costs almost nothing."

Other successful promotional devices are the Web site and the Curby phone service line. They allow people to check on Curby service times or when the brush truck will be in their neighborhoods. Citizens get pencils made of recycled materials with the program’s phone number and Web site printed on them. "People keep them as souvenirs," Sloan says.

Because of the single monthly pickup, some Nashville families have two or three carts. The carts are for mixed paper, cardboard and aluminum cans. No glass or plastic containers are included in the curbside program.

A typical month finds a participation rate of 45 percent to 50 percent.

"The biggest reason for our success is we don’t have a high contamination rate," Sloan says. Typically, it is less than 3 percent, with plastic bags the biggest problem, she says.

"Education was the big expense the first couple of years," Sloan says. When it got underway in 2002, Metro Nashville Public Works developed materials with eye-catching colors. The "Curby" name for the containers caught on with kids and was expanded to other areas, like trucks.

A whole infrastructure is behind the Curby program. Rivergate Recycling is city’s the local MRF.

The program goes well beyond homes. A small-business program in the URD gives containers to businesses. Some have eight carts out for their curbside program. "It sure brings in a lot of white paper," Sloan says.

Schools and Metro government have their own Curby program. Fifty Dumpsters are located at non-profit organizations. Each brings in about 400 pounds of material each week, though this will vary in the cold weather or when schools are out.

"If a Dumpster underachieves, it goes somewhere else," Sloan says.

Glass, plastics, tires and batteries are not neglected. Centers throughout Davidson County collect glass and plastics, while two other sites pull in tires, scrap metal and household hazardous waste.

"It is incredibly less expensive to certify one or two sites to do the job right," Sloan says. Some material, like the iron, pays for itself. "But if the stuff is out of the back alley and off the side of the road, I’m happy," Sloan says.

BROAD ECONOMY LOOKS GOOD. The economy across the South proved sufficiently resilient to maintain solid growth and moderate core inflation in 2004, even as higher oil prices drained consumers’ purchasing power and boosted firms’ costs, according to the Federal Reserve’s "Monetary Policy Report," submitted to Congress in mid-February of 2005. Real GDP rose 3.75 percent last year after having increased 4.5 percent in 2003. Activity was supported by continued robust advances in household spending. In addition, capital spending by businesses increased notably.

The Fed says private payrolls, which turned up in late 2003, rose 170,000 per month last year, on average, and the unemployment rate declined below 5.5 percent by year-end and to 5.25 percent in January 2005—the lowest rates since 2001.

All of this is good for most states in the Southeast.

North Carolina is a good example of the growth. In late February, that state’s governor took a few bows for the rosier fiscal scene, though some observers noted that the growth hardly replaced the losses in jobs and revenues throughout the past several years.

Whether it is a full recovery or just business headed in the right direction, pressures on the budgets of state and local governments have eased as economic activity has strengthened. Tax receipts have been spurred by the increases in household income, consumer spending and property values, the Fed report notes. Most states in the region seem to be on track to meet balanced budget requirements in the current fiscal year (which ends June 30 for all but a few states) without using as much borrowing or other extraordinary measures as in recent years.

Nevertheless, the Fed cautions, many states still must deal with lingering fiscal problems, particularly depleted reserve funds, the expiration of temporary tax hikes and rising Medicaid costs. In addition, several states still face serious structural budget imbalances, which affects recycling along with other aspects of state government, from education to prisons.

OVERALL OUTLOOK. Like anywhere else in the nation, there is some decline in absolute numbers of programs. But the number of households served is, in most cases, increasing. This shows that some marginal programs have died while large-scale operations continue to expand.