This is what I came up with (read):
"Despite gains, city lags in recycling" June 19, 2012|David Abel, Globe Staff
Boston
has nearly doubled its residential recycling rate over the past five
years, yet fewer than 1 in 5 pieces of household waste gets recycled,
significantly less than in other large cities around the country.
Despite
tens of millions of dollars spent, a raft of new programs, and the
availability of curbside recycling to nearly everyone, the city last
fiscal year recycled only 19 percent of all residential garbage, about
30,000 tons, city officials said.
By comparison, Seattle and San
Jose, Calif., reported recycling 60 percent of their residential waste;
San Francisco said it recycled 55 percent; and cities such as Memphis;
Austin, Texas; and Jacksonville, Fla., reported recycling more than 30
percent of their household trash, according to a survey this year by
Waste & Recycling News, which covers the industry.
“We’re
a low performer,’’ said Jim Hunt, chief of the mayor’s office of energy
and environment services, though he noted that it is hard to compare
cities’ recycling rates, as some include construction debris and exclude
large buildings. “We’re one of the greenest cities in the country, but
recycling and waste management is still the issue where we fall short.
But it’s not for a lack of effort.’’
The city spends about $5
million a year on recycling programs and boosted its recycling rate
substantially three years ago when it introduced a single-stream program
across Boston, allowing residents to toss all their recycling into one
city-provided bin. Boston recoups about half its recycling costs by
saving the money it would pay to deposit its trash at landfills, which
charge about $80 a ton.
In an effort to boost its recycling rate, the city is rolling out a host of new programs....
A number of factors contribute to Boston’s relatively low recycling
rate, officials and recycling advocates said. It could at least partly
be due to the city’s relatively high number of immigrants, who may not
be familiar with the concept and may not have had it explained in their
language. The large population of students also may be a factor....
Not only are you kids lazy, you are slobs.
Others
suggested that different rules for larger buildings - the city requires
landlords of buildings with seven or more units to buy their own
barrels or dumpsters and arrange their own recycling contract - could
reduce overall participation.
“You need to make sure you have a
recycling program that is reaching all residents, regardless of the type
of housing stock they’re in,’’ said Samantha MacBride, an adjunct
professor of public affairs at Columbia University and author of
“Recycling Reconsidered.’’
One of the reasons cities such as San
Francisco have a significantly higher recycling rate is because all
residents are required to recycle their food scraps.
Boston and
other municipalities in the state will be required to launch a similar
program in coming years, said Ken Kimmell, commissioner of the the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. New state
regulations will require recycling of all residential food waste by the
end of the decade.
The state said this year that it will begin
banning hospitals, universities, and other big businesses and
institutions from discarding food waste in 2014. The scraps will be sent
to composting sites or plants that convert waste into energy....
Related: Boston Globe Compost Pile
Smells like s***.
Also see: Boston Globe Garbage Can
That's where this is going, yeah.
Another
reason Boston lags behind other cities is that many of them provide
financial incentives to recycle.
That's not the kind of financial incentive they offer corporations!
Such “pay as you throw’’ programs,
versions of which are used in more than one-third of the state’s
municipalities, require residents to pay for the amount of trash they
leave on the curb, while their recycling services are free.
I'm in one.
Some cities also fine residents or issue warnings if they put recycling in their trash bins.
In San Francisco, residents can be, though rarely are, fined $100 for failing to comply with recyling regulations.
“Some
are motivated to help the environment; others are motivated by the
money; and others do it because they know they will be fined,’’ said
Julie Bryant, coordinator of the zero waste program in San Francisco.
“Either way, pay as you throw has been critical to our success.’’
Randi
Mail - director of recycling in Cambridge, which recycles about 40
percent of its residential waste - said the city is looking to expand
its food scrap program, which she expects would increase Cambridge’s
recycling rate to 60 percent.
She said more public education is needed, as about one-quarter of the
trash the city collects from residents is filled with cans and bottles
that should be recycled....
--more--"
I dunno, Globe. We do pretty good in my neck of the woods.
Related: Recycling is Bad for the Environment
What?
