The Future of Recycling

1
The Future of Recycling

• Dick Brown
• Executive Director
• Colorado Recycles

2
Municipal Solid Waste

• Human beings create waste that must be dealt with
• Three strategies
• Landfill
• Incinerate
• Recycle
• In the Western U.S, incineration is only used
  selectively

3
Recycling Is an Extractive Industry

• Consider the MSW Stream to be analogous to a
  stream in which there is gold
• The recycler, like the miner, seeks to extract
  the valuable commodities from the stream
• The recycler, like the miner, only extracts those
  commodities that have a market value
• Technology and stable markets make both mining
  and recycling more efficient, cost effective and
  profitable

4
Public May Think It Is Sustainability Its
Really About Markets

• If there is no market, there is no recycling
• Materials that are extracted are commodities and
  are bought and sold in the commodities market
• The commodities market is increasingly global
• The commodities market is, by its nature, very
  volatile

5
Markets Are Driven By Consumer Demand

• The future of recycling depends upon the creation
  of viable consumer products that are made from
  recycled materials
• Consumers will buy quality products because of
  the quality and the value for their dollars
• If the product is of inferior quality, consumers
  are less likely to buy and use it
• Products made from recycled materials must meet
  the consumer quality test

6
Recycling Must Be Efficient to be Competitive

• The process of recycling must be cost effective
  and efficient if the price of the material is
  going to be competitive with other materials
• Cost efficiencies are generated by technology
• The major advances on the supply side of
  recycling have been in materials collection
  technology and materials handling technology

7
Economies of Scale Matter

• Recycling and trash collection are forms of
  utility operations analogous to water, sewer,
  electricity, gas and so on
• The more participants there are, the lower the
  unit cost for serving each participant
• Bypassing customers is costly total revenues
  are depressed and unit costs are higher

8
Urbanization, Economies of Scale and Recycling
Technology

• Colorado is an urban state, and is becoming more
  urbanized
• Boundaries of incorporated areas are less
  important than the concentration of human
  dwellers
• Residential density lends itself to efficient
  curbside recycling
• Recycling technology allows for a greater variety
  of acceptable materials

9
Are Coloradans Interested in Recycling?

• Absolutely daily email inquiries
• Colorado Recycles Statewide Recycling Guide has
  received 1,298,918 visits over the past 12 months
• Recycle Your Christmas Tree has received 333,934
  over the past 12 months 243,399 of which
  occurred in December January
• Colorado Curbside has received 170,176 over the
  past 12 months and it has never been promoted
• Plastic Bag Recycling has received 41,175 over
  the past 6 months and it has never been promoted

10
Municipalities and Curbside The Future of
Successful Recycling

• CML-Colorado Recycles 2006 survey
• Municipalities only 80 participation
• 43 of municipal residents already had access to
  curbside recycling
• Statistics and data on web site

11
Efficiency Standardization

• Municipality defines the program
• Can require trash haulers to provide curbside
• Can contract with one or more trash haulers
• Can set the materials to be recycled
• Can require a commingled or single stream system

12
Financing

• Tax supported few, almost no new
• Private pay customer deals directly with
  recycler per service contract
• Fee for service
• City bills and pays for service
• City allows contractor to bill

13
Pay-To-Throw Incentives Work

• A form of fee system
• Fee is set as a variable to encourage customer to
  divert recyclable materials from trash to
  recycling
• May have an effect on consumer purchasing
  behaviors but that has not been researched

14
Curbside or Drop Off?

• A community needs both
• Curbside for residential is highly successful
  because of its convenience and the variety of
  materials that can be accepted in a single stream
• Drop off is important for multifamily hard to
  do curbside in many apartment or condominium
  communities

15
Colorado Recycles Asset for Municipalities

• Only statewide recycling guide in existence
• Tracks 50 different products and materials
• Has more than 2,100 individual recycler records
  in the data base
• Organizes recyclers by whether they are drop off,
  curbside, statewide or regional, national or a
  nonprofit

16
Recycling Guide

• Select material (e.g., aluminum cans)
• Determine county of interest
• Select category of recycler
• Display is alphabetical by city first,
  alphabetical by recycler within city
• Provides links to recycler web sites

17
Recycling Tips

• Papers that educate the public about how to
  recycle various products and materials
• Can be reproduced by a municipality for use on
  its web site or as handouts as long as
  attribution is made

18
Community Events

• We publish information about community events on
  the home page of our web site
• There is a space for current events and
  happenings and we update it on a regular basis
• Among other things of interest, we are currently
  posting information about community clean up days
• Email us the information, and we will post it

19
Educational Forums

• We help organize and participate in educational
  forums
• Rx in the Watershed Symposium last September in
  Monument
• Jointly with PPRWA, Colorado Society of
  Pharmacists, Colorado Retail Council, PhARMA and
  Rx Plus
• White paper available on PPRWA web site
  http//www.pprwa.com/

20
Product Stewardship

• We are initiating more research into product
  stewardship computer take back programs are a
  good example
• Becomes a closed loop for managing end of life
  products
• Variation on concept is Waste Managements
  mail-in program for fluorescent lights,
  batteries, cell phones, etc.

21
New Strategic Plan

• We are developing a new strategic plan the
  world has changed and we need to provide valuable
  services for the new needs
• Organizing around interest clusters scrap
  tires, landfills, curbside programs, household
  hazardous waste and so on
• Colorado Recycles will provide the umbrella
  organization for back shop operations and the
  interest clusters will develop their own programs
  and projects

22
Discussions With CML

• We have brainstormed numerous ideas for joint
  research
• Update curbside survey
• Draft a Decision Making Guide for Municipal
  Officials
• Develop a standardized RFP for curbside recycling
  services
• Develop a model ordinance for trash and recycling

23
Local Recycling Guides

• We can develop a number of Recycling Guides
• We can create a material specific guide
  computers and electronics
• We can create a local or regional guide Pueblo
  or Arkansas Basin

24
Link to Web Site

• Some cities have established a link from their
  web site to the Colorado Recycles web site as a
  public service to their communities
• No cost or charge for linking

25
Colorado Recycles Web Sites

• http//www.colorado-recycles.org/main.html
• http//www.coloradocurbside.com/
• http//www.recycleyourchristmastree.com/
• http//www.recycleyourplasticbag.com/