In an effort in vastly increase recycling participation, the City of Lansing has announce plans to institute a “single stream” recycling program.
Residents and city employees will no longer have to sort recyclables because they’ll be separated at the recycling facility. The city is also adding plastic bags, cardboard boxes, paperboard boxes, plastic containers numbered three through seven, all paper types, small metal items and plastic-coated drink boxes to its curbside pickup services.
“Because we will no longer have to worry about sorting our recyclables, this new system will be much easier for residents and for City employees,” said the director of the city's Public Service Department, Chad Gamble. “We expect this expansion to lead to a major increase in recycling participation and significantly reduce the amount of waste contributed to our local landfills.”
The City estimates the program will conserve 120,000 trees, 40 million kilowatts of energy and 51 million gallons of water per year. The City also estimates that the program will reduce carbon dioxide gas by 22,850 tons, which is equivalent to taking 4,155 cars off the road.
City officials expect the new system to boost Lansing’s recycling rate to more than 8,000 tons per year—a 400 percent increase from the 2,000 tons that will be recycled in 2008.
The new recycling program will be implemented in three phases over a one-year period. Beginning in March, the City will begin converting to single-stream recycling at the processing end. After a thorough evaluation of proposals, a single-stream recycling processing vendor will be selected. In mid-2009, the City will begin pilot programs in select areas.
The pilot program will test three major components of the program: replacement of the City’s green recycle bins with rolling carts for residential, multi-family and small business use; the collection processes using automated trucks; and a rewards program similar to a recycle bank, which provides rewards for those who participate.
In the final phase, the City will extend the program to the rest of the city.
Source: Phil Lewis, The Rossman Group
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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