Well, after six columns, we finally got to what many of you have been asking for, which is a discussion on recycling. Let me, again, state my personal philosophy that recycling has its place but only after we make every effort to reduce what we use. Of course, there are many articles that cannot be reused and many things that cannot be purchased in bulk that create certain articles of waste that can only be restructured through recycling. A primary example is the aluminum can which is the most recycled item in this country. It is a closed loop opportunity where the can can be recycled over and over. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours!
To start with, Key West has a recycling rate of approximately 7.4%, recently up from 6%, which means people are listening. This one small movement has resulted in direct savings of about $30,000 for the City. San Francisco has a recycling rate over 70%! If a major, complex, urban area such as San Francisco can do it, certainly a small island such as Key West can do it, and maybe do it better. All it takes is the will and the knowledge. If we can get to a recycling rate of 30%, it is my understanding the City will save $1 million! This would be a self sustaining achievement that would pay for code enforcement and education to take us to the next level.
Frankly, for our present city franchisee for waste collection, Waste Management, it is cheaper to put everything in a big truck, haul it up to Miami and burn it. Yes, there are some benefits in energy creation but there are also some major detriments, such as the fact that we are throwing perfectly good, recyclable materials away and I couldn’t tell you what kind of air quality issues are created in the incineration process, especially when you are burning things like plastic, used batteries and oil-based paints.
I have been in several debates about this since I started looking at the whole prospect of “going green”. The debate generally centers around whether recycling saves money or costs money. My own take on this is pretty simple. Whether it actually makes money or not depends on the volume that is being recycled. If only 6% to 7% of the people in Key West recycle, certainly the effort of picking it up and transporting it can’t be profitable. If 100% of us, including businesses, recycle, maybe we can get to breakeven or even a profit. We are doing the same transporting of material and there are costs in the recycling process but the resulting product has economic value.
Another overriding consideration on whether to recycle or not is the fact that if we don’t there is an inherent cost in incineration or putting these same materials into landfills which we have already discussed. The bottom line whether it’s profitable or not pales in comparison to the fact that our rate of consumption is simply not sustainable. We’ll survive this but our children will not. The cost of doing this definitely is more than the potential economic loss of recycling.
There has been so much misinformation and frustration in getting proper information that I thought I would dedicate the rest of this column to telling you what can be recycled and how to do it, so here it goes.
Recycling 101
We are in what is called a dual stream recycling system. Greg Sullivan has said many times that we will soon go to a single stream system. Basically, dual stream means having to separate paper from glass, metal and plastic. Single stream will allow putting it all together.
You Can Recycle:
1. |
Containers (mixed together in the same recycling bin) – Glass bottles and jars (except blue glass), aluminum and tin cans, plastics 1, 2 and 3 (look at the symbol on the bottom of the container which will have a number inside the chasing arrows), lids from plastic bottles. It is better to rinse these out but they cannot contain things like cigarette butts or the limes in your Corona bottles. |
2. |
Paper – placed in a separate recycling bin or inside a paper bag (not plastic bags). Office paper, junk mail (tell them to stop sending it), envelopes, magazines, cereal boxes (remove plastic or wax paper bag and staples) |
3. |
Corrugated Cardboard – must be flattened and no larger than 2 ft. by 2 ft. |
4. |
Household Batteries – place in Ziploc bags (ugh! Plastic!) inside recycle bin. |
You Cannot Recycle:
1. |
Plastics 4, 5 and 6 (not yet anyway) |
2. |
Blue glass |
3. |
Mirrors |
4. |
Drinking glasses |
5. |
Waxed milk cartons, etc. |
6. |
Plastic bags. (We need a law to require stores to take these back for recycling or to ban them altogether as China, Great Britain and some U.S. cities have already done.) |
7. |
Contaminated Items (boxes and containers with food residue inside). |
8. |
Hazardous waste including toxic paints, car batteries, fluorescent lights, etc. These can be taken to Stock Island on the first Thursday of March, June, September and December. |
Remember, Waste Management WORKS FOR US. While you can call the Waste Management office which is answered in Palm Beach at 296-8297, you can also call R.B. Havens, the Key West Public Works Director at 809-2751. The city hires Waste Management and pays them. Use this as your primary resource to get your recycling done properly.
Recycling is a personal decision now, but we should require it. I started doing it , and guess what? It’s as easy as putting it in one box instead of another and it feels good!
Dates to remember: April 16th: Green drinks at Finnegan’s Wake. April 22: EARTH DAY.
Chris Belland
Love Your Island Co-Chair
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