Changes in Trash Collection Cycles Likely
Curb collection of trash may be reduced to once a week to cut costs, encourage recycling.
Anne Arundel County residents could soon see a reduction in their trash collection schedules. Last week, the county executive's office announced plans to reduce trash pickup from twice weekly collections to once a week. The move would reportedly reduce trash hauling costs and encourage recycling.
In a recent release, County Executive John Leopold stated that the county's recycling rate had risen from 31 percent to almost 40 percent. This figure, however, was short of Anne Arundel County's stated goal of 50/50 recycling by weight.
In August of 2009, Leopold appointed a Recycling Advisory Committee (RAC) to research ways to increase residential recycling. The committee was appointed to a one-year term, ending in December 2010. The RAC submitted a report to the county executive and made some recommendations.
RAC's Findings
The RAC's report recommended a weekly trash hauling schedule, preferably on the same day as when the recyclables are collected. It suggested that the county residential recycling must be expanded to include small businesses in order to have any significant effect on recycling.
Among other findings, the report also noted that the stated 50/50 goal might need to be revisited. For example, the 40 percent figure reflects data for curbside pickup of recyclables in residential areas. It does not include those cases when residents directly took their recyclable material to convenience centers, which are located in Sudley, Millersville and Glen Burnie. Nor does it include the recycling efforts of small businesses.
Money Sense
According to Matt Diehl, spokesperson for the county's Department of Public Works (DPW), the details of trash hauling are still being negotiated with contractors. He stated that the new schedules, when decided on by the county executive, would be implemented countywide.
"In the near future," Diehl replied when pressed about how soon these new schedules might be in place.
Each household in the county pays a flat fee of $275 annually for waste management. This amount shows up in the annual tax bill. For the whole county, the annual bill for trash and recycling hauling is $22.5 million.
The county doesn't know exactly how much money would be saved on the hauling contracts by switching to a different schedule. The DPW is going with an estimate of a 10 percent reduction in the $22.5 million bill, said Diehl.
The benefits of reduced trash pickups would be seen as lower fees, he said.
The RAC report called for more aggressive recycling. Not only is this great for the environment, it could generate additional revenue for the county.
The county sells its recyclable trash at market-driven rates, Diehl said. The contract that DPW Waste Managements Services has with the vendor is a no-loss contract, meaning the county cannot lose money.
Through the sale of its recyclables, Anne Arundel County has generated as much as $1 million in revenue in the past. This figure will likely increase if the curbside recycling rate continues to climb as it has for the previous four years, he added.
"Each time a recyclable item is thrown into trash, it is money that is being buried in the landfill," he added.
Recyclables in the trash also means that the county's single landfill in Millersville gets filled faster.
Aggressive Recycling
People tend to mix up their recyclable items with their trash, especially if the recycle pickup is scheduled later. Reducing the number of trash pickup days forces residents to be more mindful of what they are throwing into which bin, said Diehl.
Recycle bins that residents use now from DPW offices have a 32-gallon capacity, said Diehl. In a pilot program in Glen Burnie, the county tested 64-gallon wheeled- and lidded-recycle carts.
With larger recycle carts, the trash at the curbs will probably be even with the amount of recyclables, Diehl predicted. There will be less flyaway debris, resulting in cleaner streets.
What Can Concerned Residents Do?
Still not sure if a reduced trash pickup schedule is good for the county?
Trash contracts are handled by the executive branch of the county government, said Diehl. They are not subject to council voting.
However, Diehl said concerned residents with opinions on the matter can call the customer relations line at Waste Management Services at 410-222-6108.
Sean Tully
9:19 am on Friday, January 21, 2011
Word to the wise - fight against reducing regular trash collection to once a week. It doesn't work. They did in in Baltimore City and it has been a disaster for my neighborhood. We now have rats.
Nancy Bowman-Williams
1:40 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
I am all for once a week pick ups. I live in a community of primarily Seniors and homes without children. We don't generate enough trash/recyclables to merit twice a week pick ups. The problem with once a week pick ups is having uncovered bins fill with water when it rains. If there could be a way to avoid this; once a week pick ups would benefit the collectors as well. I know trash and recycle bins that have water in them is too heavy!!! Me and a few of my neighbors have purchased bins to hold our cans so that they are not filled with water and also safe from animals and heavy winds.
Joan
6:33 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
The best way to keep water from filling your trash cans is to get someone to drill a couple of holes in the bottom. A few holes do wonders.
MagnaRider
2:13 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
My family of 4 only generates 1 to 2 bags of trash per week max, the rest is recycling. We fill a minimum of 2 county supplied recycle cans per week, sometimes 4. I am for picking up the trash once a week, but collecting the recycling twice would be nice!
JS_Annapolis
3:37 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
Our small neighborhood of 40+houses generates very few cans on the extra pickup day, yet the crews have to drive the whole neighborhood to make sure they don't miss anything. The budget savings look worth it.
Rebecca White
5:38 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
We have one recycling pick up per week and two trash pick ups weekly. We rarely have more than one bag of trash per pick up. Would like to keep twice weekly pick up of trash during the warmer months though.
Susan Jenkins
7:24 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
The article mentions how the county tested a pilot program in Glen Burnie where they offered 64-gallon recycling containers with wheels and lids ... do you think that would work in lieu of an additional recycling pickup?
Jennifer Batten
9:35 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
I agree with Bob E. twice a week recycling would be awesome. We fill two recycling cans weekly and have to cram it in but only have about a bag of trash per pickup. The bins with wheels and lids would be awesome and I know my daughter would love the wheels since it's her job to get them to the curb every week!
Kristen Kasprow
10:40 pm on Friday, January 21, 2011
We always have more recycling than trash. In fact, we only put out our trash once a week (same day as recycling) anyway. We never have enough trash for the second pick up. A second recycling pick-up might be a better use of funds!
Sean Tully
11:26 am on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Some interesting responses. It is clear to me that most of the people here are responsible and know how to manage their family trash. But the problem is that not everyone is responsible. Here is a test you can do to see if your area will have any problems with once a week regular trash pickup. Take a walk around your area on a non-trash day. See how many people are putting their trash out in plastic bags or cans without tight fitting lids. If you see any, even one or two, that is an indication you will have problems. Because, as some have mentioned, just because you don't have much trash for the second collection of the week, if it isn't collected, that trash will remain in the neighborhood, and, if a person doesn't store it correctly, it will become food for rats. It's that simple.
Sean Tully
11:33 am on Saturday, January 22, 2011
One last point. Even if you live in a well maintained area of Annapolis, for example, that doesn't mean you will be immune to rats. The thing about rats is that they move. They do not stay in one place. So, if some area of Annapolis is having major problems with once a week regular trash pickup, which I am certain they will, and that area has more rats than usual, it is almost certain the problem will spread. The rats will go searching for new feeding grounds. And, if by chance your neighbor doesn't store his trash properly, the rats will sniff it out. And when they do, you now have a rat problem.
Tim Hamilton
12:09 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Great. More recycling means that now it's MORE likely that the guys collecting will leave debris spread all over my yard and street. They are incentivized to do the job as fast as possible, so what do they care if they spill while collecting?
Susan Jenkins
12:15 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Sean makes some excellent points, as does Tim ... because having lids on larger recycling containers doesn't matter when the debris flies away as its being dumped into the truck. Let's also be clear that the committee DID NOT RECOMMEND twice-weekly recycling pickups. (I just posted the committee's December 2010 report as a PDF attached to the article for those who are interested.)
Priya Ramachandran
5:28 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
All great feedback. I hope the county government reads this.
Thanks for the PDF link, Susan, it's interesting reading.
Joan
6:40 pm on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Now that my children are gone, I too have 1 trash can once a week and 2 recycling bins full of paper and plastic. Any excess recyclables go into the trash, if they won't fit in their own bins, so a larger bin would be very welcome. As to the trash can--years ago, I lived in Washington D.C., which at the time required that garbage be placed in a tightly covered metal can. We didn't have plastic bags back then. Unfortunately, the trash people like to bash up metal cans and they seem to enjoy breaking the plastic ones as well. And once I had a freezer problem, lost all the food, and they would not pick it up at all!