Thursday, May 15, 2008

McKinney apartments slowly catching on to recycling effort

By Brett Ryder of McKinneyNews.net

MCKINNEY — It’s the quintessential no-brainer: An apartment complex agrees to allow IESI to drop off one recycle container in exchange for one trash dumpster and saves about 50 percent in monthly disposal fees for the exchange while helping thwart the growing pollution threat to the environment.

If only it were that simple.

For the last several months, Elizabeth Combs, public relations representative for IESI, has been quietly pounding the pavement trying to sell McKinney apartment complexes on the benefits of recycling. On paper, her selling points loom impressively large: Younger people are growing more interested in recycling and want to live in complexes that offer recycling, it’s cheaper for complexes to recycle than throw away, landfills are choking on mountains of non-biodegradable human refuse, and, last but not least, recycling is – at least in most minds – the right thing to do.

About 10,000 apartment units representing about 27 percent of all housing in McKinney are without access to recycling services.

Americans, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, discard about 4.6 pounds of refuse a day.

A quick visit to the calculator reveals an astonishing figure: 98,000 pounds of unrecycled McKinney apartment trash is heading straight to the landfill every day (this number computed assuming 2 inhabits per apartment unit).

Combs has enlisted the participation of four complexes. It’s a pittance, but it’s a start.

McKinney’s new City Manager, Frank Ragan, is bullish on recycling. Ragan said he intends to move quickly toward an apartment recycling initiative that could potentially become city mandated.

Given the enormous amount of waste generated by apartments, Ragan said he believes the city has “a pretty compelling case to bring [an ordinance proposal] forward, particularly with new construction.”

The IESI voluntary pilot program is about as straightforward as a program can be. Combs approaches a complex, references the above selling points (recycling bins cost $88 monthly compared to $169 for identical sized trash dumpsters), and holds her breath.

Amy Warren, manager of the Cliffs of Eldorado, said Combs’ entreaty was timely. In recent months, Warren said several residents have approached her about recycling. When Warren learned of the lower price for recycling, she was sold. Out went one eight-cubic-yard dumpster and in went one eight-cubic-yard commingle (no sorting) recycling container in its place.

But alas, things are never as easy as they seem.

While the new recycle dumpster sat stuffed full with pizza boxes and newspaper and plastic a mere two days after pickup – a clear indication that Cliffs’ residents were happily taking advantage of the new program – Warren wasn’t sure how she would accommodate a second (or third or fourth) recycling container.

The problem pits logistics against expediency.

Many older complexes – including the Cliffs – have pad sites for only one dumpster. These single sites are scattered strategically among apartment buildings for resident convenience. Removing a trash dumpster and replacing it with a recycling dumpster would mean certain residents would have to walk farther to throw away their nonrecyclables.

Warren said the complex has saved approximately $191 a month since initiating the recycling program.

Combs hopes the greed factor, regardless of the logistical problems associated with dumpster placement and finding corporate minions (usually sitting at a desk hundreds -- if not thousands of miles away) authorized to make the recycling decision, will move more apartments toward recycling.

“It’s a no-brainer, but plowing through the bureaucracy is a bit challenging when you’re trying to find out who ultimately calls the shots,” Combs said. “But when I do find someone and tell them it’s cheaper, then they usually say, ‘Oh, I’ve always wanted to recycle, then.’”

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