If approved, the move would divert about 500 tons on plastic from trash each year.
View full sizeA front end loader pushes garbage into piles at the tipping floor at the OCRRA waste-to-energy plant on Rock Cut Road in this photo from Nov. 16, 2009. At right, a grapple picks up the garbage to deposit in a second-floor trash bin. Syracuse, NY -- The Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency plans to add yogurt cups and margarine tubs to the recyclables collected in blue bins.
The addition of No. 5 plastic — polypropylene — comes as the agency marks 20 years of mandatory recycling. If approved today by the agency’s board of directors, the decision would divert about 500 tons of No. 5 plastic from the trash each year.
While that’s a fraction of the 300,000 tons of garbage the agency burns in its waste-to-energy plant on Rock Cut Road in Jamesville, 500 tons is nothing to sneeze at.
County residents annually recycle about 40,000 tons of newspaper, junk mail, cardboard, pizza boxes, juice boxes and containers made from glass, metal, and No. 1 and No. 2 plastic.
OCRRA waited to add No. 5 plastic to its roster of recyclables until it was clear there would be a viable, stable and long-term market for the reclaimed polypropylene.
“If we’re asking people to recycle it, are we confident it’s going to go into the blue bin and then be recycled into another product?” Tom Rhoads, OCRRA’s executive director, asked Tuesday at a meeting of The Post-Standard’s editorial board. “We want to make sure there is a good robust market, that these things are going to be recovered and not put into a landfill in Iowa.”
Polypropylene containers are cleaned, turned into pellets or flakes, melted down and made into new products, such as toothbrush handles and fibers for athletic clothing, said Andrew Radin, director of recycling and waste reduction for the agency.
If the agency’s board approves, No. 5 recycling would begin immediately, Radin said.
Since recycling went into effect July 1, 1990, Onondaga County residents and businesses have recycled 3.8 million tons of newspapers, cardboard, magazines, junk mail, bottles and cans. Recycling has saved more than $200 million in waste disposal fees and created hundreds of local jobs, Radin said.
Per capita, Onondaga County residents recycle more than any other community in the state, he said. Still, there’s room for improvement on paper recycling, especially from businesses. About 14 percent of trash is paper that could be recycled, according to OCRRA.
Agency officials addressed other topics of concern in their meeting with the newspaper’s editorial board, including:
• Electronic waste. New York recently became the 23rd state to require manufacturers to collect and recycle televisions, computers and other consumer electronics. Rhoads, OCRRA’s executive director, said the law will encourage manufacturers to design products that can be more easily recycled and reused. The shift toward product stewardship will spread responsibility for a product’s impact on the environment from government to the manufacturer, retailer and consumer, he said.
• Food composting. Food waste comprises 15 percent of the county’s trash, about 45,000 tons. OCRRA is successfully demonstrating the composting of commercial and industrial food waste at its compost site in Amboy, and wants to expand the program to compost 15,000 tons a year. Expansion plans do no include residential composting. The agency believes backyard composting is the most efficient for residents. The agency wants to sell the compost to make money at a time when revenues have been hurt by the recession, Rhoads said. For example, the agency’s revenues from electricity sales declined from $13.5 million in 2008 to $6.6 million in 2009, as consumers and businesses threw out less trash and the price of electricity sagged.
• Renewable energy. The Rock Cut Road plant generates about 36 megawatts of electricity per year for the grid. Power from waste-to-energy plants is not considered renewable, while energy derived from the methane gas in landfill is, said Amy Lawrence, agency engineer. The disparity gives an advantage to landfills, which are arguably worse for the environment, she said.
• Paradigm shift. As more materials are recycled and New York edges to a “zero waste” future, OCRRA will need to be compensated in new ways, Rhoads said. He compared it to power utilities that receive an incentive for getting customers to conserve and use less of their product.
Contact Marie Morelli at mmorelli@syracuse.com or 470-2220.