In Lane County — home to innovators such as BRING Recycling and NextStep Recycling, where certified master recyclers roam and preach, and recycling crews paw through trash left at sports games and concerts — residents and businesses still toss tons of useful and reusable materials into the landfill.
Hired by county government, the California-based R3 Consulting Group recently observed significant “evidence of recyclables” in the waste stream at the Glenwood Central Receiving Station, the county’s busiest trash transfer station.
“The (Glenwood) facility is not designed to effectively divert materials, and currently diverts only a small portion of readily recoverable materials from its incoming mixed-waste stream,” the consultant wrote.
The consultant and county officials cite as the cause poorly designed and functioning recycling facilities, depressed markets for recyclables and skewed financial incentives offered by the county.
Glenwood, for example, was designed before recycling was common. The makeshift recycling bins and lanes make for traffic jams on busy days, so residents are tempted to skip the recycling bins, even though the county will cut their dumping bill by $1 for doing even minimal recycling.
“Not everyone does. Not everyone separates everything,” said Jeff Bishop, the county’s waste management superintendent.
That’s easy to verify. A look in the Glenwood station’s concrete-lined trash pit shows all manner of recyclables that residents and businesses have tossed in: waste lumber, cardboard, newspaper, pieces of metal.
A recent visit to the county’s Creswell transfer station also found ample evidence of recyclables in the trash, including branches, cardboard boxes, a mattress, lumber, desk drawers, a wooden pallet and a clean kitchen cabinet that looked BRING-worthy.
Lane County touts numerous, mostly free recycling options at all 16 transfer stations — for cardboard, cans, plastics and glass.
“Some people don’t care,” said a transfer station worker in a yellow vest, who was chasing down stray bits of litter. “Some don’t want to take the time,”
The consultant pointed out that wood, in particular, is being dumped. At Glenwood, “We observed a significant quantity of wood going into the pit and to the landfill,” the report said.
But for yard or wood waste, the county offers little financial incentive for people to recycle. For starters, that recycling service is only offered at the Glenwood, Cottage Grove and Florence transfer stations. And because it must pay to get rid of the material, the county charges to collect it, with a minimum of $15.50 for a pickup truck load of either material, and more for larger amounts. Tossing it into the garbage at a transfer station would cost about the same.
To read the full story, visit http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/34622753-75/despite-best-intentions-of-many-lots-of-recyclable-stuff-ends-up-in-landfill.html.csp.