Despite the continuing economic woes and the loss of overseas markets, some jurisdictions appear to be achieving extraordinary success with their recycling programs…notably Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco, the last of which claims a 70% diversion rate. This raises a number of questions in my mind, not only about these systems but how representative they are of other systems as well…yours for instance.
To get some handle on this, perhaps you (along with San Francisco) would be willing to share the following information with us for inclusion in a future article:
1. What was the total waste (tons) collected by the city or its contractor in 2007, 2008, 2009?
2. How much tonnage by category was diverted through recycling materials brokers (ONP, OMG, OCC, mixed paper, plastic bottles, glass containers, metal containers, foodwastes from restaurants, yardwastes, or other)? Were these data from your own weigh scales or from those of the broker?
3. What happened to the rest of the material? Sent to which landfills? (again tonnage verified by weigh-scale information)
4. How much did the jurisdiction spend for solid waste collection, recycling, and disposal (Gross amount, annual amount per household, annual amount per resident)? Was that amount from user fees, property taxes, or other?
5. What was the volume of electronic wastes diverted by the city, by its contractors, or by commercial entities? (How many pounds per capita per year?)
6. What happened to the collected electronic wastes? Were they shipped overseas? If so, at what price?
7. How much fuel was used for all the collection services?
Of course, I’m not expecting to be overwhelmed with detailed responses to these questions, I wouldn’t mind a surprise or two, but on a more realistic note, I’d appreciate your ideas on other questions I might ask, as I’d really like to develop an ongoing feature looking at successful diversion programs.