GoGreen: Sustainable Living NEW Blue Carts are Rolling In
Spokane Switches To Single Stream Recycling / By Annie Szotkowski
Waste management’s new single-stream recycling facility on the west plains in Spokane County. // Photo Courtesy of waste management.
No more required sorting of recyclables— the 18-gallon blue recycling bins supplied by the City of Spokane have upgraded to 64-gallon carts. Recycling was limited to certain plastics, glass and paper—and excluded cardboard boxes and junk mail. All of that has changed. The City of Spokane declared Monday, October 1st, the day when curbside recycling will transition to single stream recycling—thanks to the opening of the new SMaRT (Spokane Material and Recycling Technology) recycling center, located at 2902 S. Geiger Blvd, next to the city’s Waste-to-Energy Facility. Waste Management
Single stream recycling means more materials in the cart, more people participating in recycling, and less hassle sorting items. leased land from the Spokane International Airport to build the SMaRT center, which they also own and operate, according to Scott Windsor, the Director of Solid Waste for City of Spokane. Single stream recycling means more materials in the cart, more people participating in recycling, and less hassle sorting items. Acceptable single stream recycling materials include junk mail, cereal boxes, plastics #1-7, milk cartons, juice boxes, beverage boxes, glass bottles, jars, batteries (in plastic bag and placed on top of cart), and small scrap metal objects like pots, pans and pie tins. The wider range of recycling materials brings the promise of greater participation. At least, that’s the philosophy behind it. According to Downtoearth.com, Coeur
d’Alene saw a 100 percent increase in overall participation after single stream carts rolled out in October 2010. Participation before the new system was 27 percent, which then doubled to 54 percent. The City of Spokane expects to save $936,000 per year on disposal costs and make $400,000 in revenue with the new single stream recycling program. Each ton of material the city recycles equates to a savings of $104 on disposal costs, while earning $22 after selling the recycled materials, according to a city press release. The City of Spokane planned to invest $8 million, as of late August, to fund the recycling conversion project—half of that money was for replacing the old recycling trucks. The transition to single stream recycling applies to residents within Spokane city’s limits and is being coordinated by the city’s Solid Waste department, while Waste Management coordinates the transition for Spokane Valley residents and those living within Spokane County but outside official city boundaries. Recycling carts will continue to be collected weekly by the City of Spokane, while Waste Management will collect recyclables every other week. Streamline recycling benefits both the City of Spokane and Spokane County due to convenience and economics. Windsor says that Waste Management agreed to invest in a single stream recycling program for Spokane because of its potential as a hub to receive materials from Central Washington, Western Montana and Idaho. Billions of Waste Management’s business dollars are invested in landfills. The company needs to invest in a single stream recycling program in an area with a population of one million people to be economically feasible, says Windsor. (Residents in Washington State’s King and Pierce counties, with Seattle and Tacoma as their respective big-city hubs, have been required to participate in single stream recycling for years; in fact, home garbage bins are considerably smaller than the recycling carts.)
By the numbers, recycled materials, like glass, save volumes compared to transporting everything to the city’s Waste-to-Energy Facility. For example, it costs $104 per ton to dispose of glass at the facility, according to Windsor, which becomes part of the ash that then is shipped to the regional landfill. When glass is sorted and recycled, however, it costs only $40-50 per ton. Then it’s sold into another commodity to enter the market place. After sorting, Waste Management sells recycling as commodities, most often overseas to China. Windsor sees the new recycling program as a cyclical, economic benefit to the community, and as a way for commodities to stay local. Materials go to the plant to be sorted by physical characteristics, pressed into a bale, and then sold at a marketed value. People interested in paper material, for instance, such as at local newsprint companies, use that new material for reusable purposes. “It’s kind of a free market,” says Windsor. One of the major concerns of single stream recycling is broken glass, which is inevitable. When glass is mixed in with the other materials at the recycling center, a concern is that broken glass will cause problems. However, the SMaRT center’s advanced modern technology will minimize the risks. Windsor also points to local people’s dedication to recycling to diminish the concern of the
single stream system causing more contamination than sorting clean, reusable materials. “Spokane has a pretty competent population, so contamination shouldn’t be a problem,” he says. Russ Nobbs, owner of Rings & Things jewelry company and a recent inductee into the Washington State Recycling Association Hall of Fame, has been a long-time volunteer recycling coordinator for community events—most notably ArtFest. He looks forward to Spokane’s new recycling facility. “I don’t really care if [recycling is] profitable or not. I care that I take it to someone who can recycle it one way or another,” he says. “Most materials use less energy [to recycle] than just burying it.” The SMaRT center and the conversion to single stream recycling is expected to use less energy overall and increase efficiency in recycling as residents and business owners now can conveniently recycle a greater quantity and variety of materials. For example, the Waste-to-Energy Facility has the ability to process 275,000 tons of garbage per year, according to Windsor, with an additional 30,000-40,000 tons that bypasses as solid waste destined for a regional landfill. The new SMaRT center reduces the tonnage sent to the landfill and increases the amount of accepted materials to sort and recycle. So don’t throw away those cereal and cracker boxes, yogurt and sour cream containers—now you’ll be recycling them, and much more. //
SUSTAINABLELIVINGCALENDAR (Ongoing) Spokane Farmers’ Market. When: Sat.
& Wed. 8 AM - 1PM. Where: 5th Ave. between Division & Browne. We offer locally produced bedding plants, vegetables, fruits, berries, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, eggs, cheese and baked goods. Info: 509-995-0182, spokanefarmersmarket.org
(Ongoing - October 20) NEW Farmers Market. When: 9 AM – 1 PM. Where: Main & Astor, downtown Colville, WA. Fresh, local fruits and vegetables in season, bedding plants and garden starts, artisan baked goods, gifts and crafts. 509-738-2089, johnpogar@yahoo.com.
(October 13) The Natural Living Show. When: 10 AM - 6 PM. Where: Spokane Community College Lair. Spokane’s premier consumer show for natural, organic, sustainable and healthy products. This year The Natural Living Show will offer free single admission ($7 value) to participants who donate one used clean cotton bed sheet of any size (higher thread count is preferred, and must be free of paint stains) to be recycled into much needed reusable strip bandages for hospitals in the African Congo. Info: TheNaturalLivingShow.com. (October 13) Composting 101 Workshop. When: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Where: Sun People Dry Goods Co, 32 W 2nd Ave, Ste. 200. Free workshop will discuss the best ways to outdoor compost--
covering hot and slow composting techniques, and all the basics. Pre registration required. Info: 509368-9378, sunpeopledrygoods.com.
(October 18) Rain Water Collection 101 Workshop. When: 4 - 5:30 PM. Where: Sun People
Dry Goods Co, 32 W 2nd Ave, Ste. 200. Learn how to assemble, install and generally use a rain barrel to collect rainwater for your garden and beds! $5 Pre-registration required. Info: 509-368-9378, sunpeopledrygoods.com.
(October 20) DIY Bitters & Cocktail Making 101 Workshop. When: 3:30 - 5 PM. Where: Sun People
Dry Goods Co, 32 W 2nd Ave, Ste. 200. Join local foodie and urban homesteader, Sam Mace as she walks you through making your own bitters for cocktails. $12. Pre-registration required. Info: 509368-9378, sunpeopledrygoods.com
(October 27) In Store Q & A: Local Energy Savings Programs. When: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM.
Where: Sun People Dry Goods Co, 32 W 2nd Ave, Ste. 200. Bruce Gage of EcoDepot and Susanne Croft of Sustainable Resources INW will be on-hand to answer questions about energy savings programs. Info: 509-368-9378, sunpeopledrygoods.com. //
OCTober 2012
/ Out There Monthly
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