Although apartment buildings lack the convenience of curbside collection that has helped the residents of single-family homes and town houses recycle almost 56% of their waste, one apartment community managed to recycle 70%, said Eileen Kao, waste reduction and recycling chief in the county’s Department of Environmental Protection.
We’re getting to 50 percent — we’re going to get there, Kao said, adding that the department is confident of its data because it cross-checks records from the transfer station scales and waste hauler reports to eliminate double-counting.
Jim Snarr, principal environmental planner for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments said that Montgomery county’s decision to take curbside plastic recycling beyond plastic bottles and start accepting plastic food containers and flowerpots moved other local governments and the private firm Waste Management/ Recycle America, whose clients include Prince George’s county and several Virginia jurisdictions, to follow suit.
Montgomery County was out front in getting the markets and demonstrating that the markets were good, Snarr said.
The 87 tons of plastic tubs and lids collected will show up in reports for the 2009 that ends on June 30, 2009, county recycling center manager Tom Kusterer said.
The county’s recycling and waste transfer center has made more money than it spent for about the past four years, including about $200,000 more in the 2008 budget year, said Peter Karasik, section chief in the county’s solid waste division.
Karasik said that the declines in commodity prices this year, which are starting to rise again, mean the operation probably will make less than it spent in the 2009 budget year.
If you look at all the avoided costs, [recycling] is always worthwhile, Karasik said.
The three investigators assigned to check on businesses and one to check on apartment and condominium buildings are helping to move the county toward its 50% goal.
The violators first receive a verbal warning and are told what they need to do to comply with county law, which mandates the recycling of paper, cardboard, jars, plastic bottles and food or plant containers with a recycling number other than 6, cans, aluminum foil, scrap metal, yard trim and Christmas trees.
When the investigators return, violators who have not complied may get a formal violation notice and eventually a citation and fines. The majority of violations are resolved by compliance, and there are few repeat offenders, Kao said. Investigators at the transfer station also make sure haulers are not cutting corners by dumping material set aside for recycling with trash, Kao said.
In the 2008 budget year, the county has issued 167 citations and collected $14,950 in fines, Kao said.
