Recycling Update

Here’s a quick update for those of you interested in curbside recycling in Kannapolis.  Bid requests have gone out for curbside and solid waste collection. The City will take proposals until October 18, and then City Council will weigh the different options.

The City’s current solid waste contract expires June 30, so the new contract will go into effect July 1, 2011.

For recycling, the bid package is looking at collection occurring two times per month and residents using a 96-gallon roll-out cart for the materials. Residents wouldn’t need to sort their recyclables, but instead would be able to deposit most plastics, glass, cardboard and mixed paper into the container for collection.

Stay tuned for more updates. If you have questions in the interim feel free to contact Karen Whichard or Renee Goodnight.

A.L. Brown Students Hear Curbside Update

A. L. Brown science teacher, Nikki Wolcott, invited me to speak to four of her freshmen science classes about curbside recycling. I shared with the students the same information that me, Public Works Director Wilmer Melton, and Communications Director Karen Whichard presented to the Kannapolis City Council at the budget retreat in December 2009. 

Staff followed up with a presentation on March 8, 2010 with some revisions to their December presentation. The basic points of the plan are: (1) Combine our waste service with the new curbside service in one bid so that both services will be in one contract with the same stop/start date. (2) One meeting has been held with the City of Concord to discuss the possibility of writing one Request for Proposal (RFP) combining services for both cities and also doing two separate RFPs. Either way, because Concord’s waste and recycling contract and Kannapolis’ waste contract expires at the same time (June 30, 2011), there is a potential that the number of combined homes in Kannapolis and Concord could offer a potential savings for both. (3) Staff proposed using a 96 gallon curbside roll out container, the same size and color as our garbage container, but with a yellow lid to distinguish the two. (4) The RFP will ask for a price to pick up recyclables every week and every other week for a comparison. (5) Bids will be let in December for the combined services with a timeline projecting a curbside rollout in July with the new services contract, pending Kannapolis City Council’s approval. 

I tried to present information about our waste stream in a way that would hold their attention! Fortunately the freshmen science students were attentive as they heard for the first time words like: single-stream recycling, MRF,  and composting and even asked some questions. 

The best part of their class time was spent making an edible landfill!  Ms. Wolcott gave them a small pie pan filled with graham cracker crumbs to represent the landfill hole, a fruit roll up to represent the landfill liner, pudding for garbage, crushed oreos for the dirt that goes on top of the landfill when it has reached capacity and is closed, green coconut for the grass planted over the closed landfill, and pretzels to represent methane pipes that release the gas built up in the mound of garbage. 

Russell and Elijah are excited to show off their completed landfill.

The kids really enjoyed the exercise that explained the life of a landfill in a way they could understand. Most of the kids chose to eat their landfills! 

Ethan and Taylor think their landfill tastes better than dirt.

Students were also given a curbside recycling survey fashioned after the City’s recycling phone survey done in 2008.  Recycling was found to be “important” to 83.13% of those surveyed. When asked, “Would you and your family be more likely to recycle if it was collected curbside with your garbage,” 86.75% said “yes.” And over 85% responded “very likely” when asked if they would participate if it cost $5 a month with a container provided. Mrs. Wolcott also gave them a “Cost of Waste Disposal vs. Recycling” worksheet so that her students would understand how a  curbside recycling program reduces landfill disposal costs. Students were asked to calculate the amount of waste that Kannapolis generates annually (51, 191 tons), for example.

Joshua and Brooke show off their landfill to Ms. Wolcott.

  

One Step Closer to Curbside Recycling

Last night, City Council authorized staff to proceed with issuing requests for proposals (RFPs) for curbside recycling services and bins. Staff has researched and presented options to Council over the last two years for developing a curbside recycling program, with the help of the Environmental Stewardship Commission and advice from Scott Muow, the state’s recycling program director. Last night’s decision moves the City one step closer to establishing a program.

Curbside recycling will help Kannapolis comply with the state law that bans aluminum cans, and as of October 2009, plastic bottles from landfills. Currently, residents can take recyclables to the local drop-off sites provided by Rowan and Cabarrus Counties (at 614 W. 8th St. and behind the Cabarrus Health Alliance building at 1307 S. Cannon Blvd).

To maximize participation and effectiveness, staff recommendations are:

• Single-stream curbside program – so that you don’t have to separate your recyclables
• 96-gallon roll-out cart – larger bins to prevent overflow and accommodate household needs
• Weekly or biweekly collection – depends on costs
• User fee, estimated $5/month – instead of incorporating into property taxes (actual amount to be determined after bids are received)

Curbside service will be provided to residents who live in dwellings that currently receive City garbage service. Initially, the service will not be offered to businesses, apartments, and other properties that pay for commercial garbage service. The recommendation of a user fee was based on the need for a steady revenue stream not dependent on property values, as well as the idea of not impacting businesses and other entities that would not receive the service (vs. a property tax, which would impact all properties). To be sustainable and stable, the user fee would be charged to all households receiving garbage service, regardless of actual participation in recycling.

Public education will be a major part of ensuring a successful program, both prior to the start of service as well as ongoing. The user fee will help ensure adequate promotion and education of the program. Residents will hear more about the importance of recycling, what is recyclable, as well as the logistics of the curbside service.

For more information, you can view the recent presentation from the Council retreat and the updated timeline (see p. 56-59) presented at last night’s Council meeting. Staff will plan to bring the bids for recycling back to City Council in April for their final decision to proceed with the program. If you have opinions on this topic, feel free to contact City Council.