[Summit] I fail to see the logic in the new GreenUp requirements.
Thomas A. Schmeling
tschmeling at ric.edu
Mon Nov 2 04:44:37 UTC 2009
Tony, this is a very impressive marshaling of facts and figures, and
very convincing.
Thanks for shedding so much light.
tom
Thomas A. Schmeling
Associate Professor and Chair
Political Science- Rhode Island College
(401) 456-8056
On Nov 1, 2009, at 11:21 PM, aa44ee wrote:
> The Mayor's plan for increasing recycling rates is not without
> precedent and is certainly warranted, in my opinion, considering our
> city's poor trash and recycling habits.
>
> In 2006, the town of Smithfield had budget problems for sending too
> much waste to the landfill and came up with a winning plan. They
> sought to address the issue of compulsive non-recycling with the
> same plan, a "No Bin, No Barrel" policy. It successfully reduced
> their over-tonnage by 50% and has increased their rates from 19% in
> 2006 to a projected 24% in 2009. Here's the scoop on how RI's trash
> fees work and the incentives created to reduce, reuse and recycle.
>
> Each municipality in Rhode Island that sends its solid waste to the
> Johnston landfill is charged per ton. It's called the tipping fee.
> The fee runs on a sliding scale from $32/ton down to $29/ton
> depending upon how much the city manages to direct to the recycling
> center (green and blue bins) versus the landfill itself (the big
> green barrel).
>
> Each town is allocated a certain number of tons of trash into the
> landfill. It is termed the Municipal Solid Waste Cap, or MSW Cap.
> The Municipal Solid Waste Cap allocation is "based on the previous
> Calendar year’s waste generation and population estimates" and are
> applied to the coming fiscal year's municipal cap. Here's a document
> which describes the MSW cap calculation in detail:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yepzzea
>
> And this next document has interesting numbers which show the 2009
> projections for the participating municipalities in Rhode Island
> (Narragansett and Tiverton dump elsewhere):
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yblbuag
>
> So, our city pays per ton up to an allocated cap. Here's the kicker.
> If a town exceeds its MSW Cap, it is charged an additional $26/ton
> on top of the standard rate. This is the case for Providence - $58/
> ton.
>
> In fiscal year 2009, the city of Providence was projected to
> generate 68,324 tons of MSW (trash), exceeding its cap of 60,629
> tons in FY 2009 by 7,695 tons. That additional 7695 tons will cost
> the city of Providence ~$438,615.
>
> Sadly, Providence ranks at the bottom of the list in the state in
> terms of recycling rates. In that second document, you'll see we're
> projected to only recycle approximately 10% of that 68,324 for the
> fiscal year. We get charged the highest rate at $32/ton.
>
> The bottom line is that less refuse means lower landfill fees. To
> get the citizens of Providence to just meet the cap and avoid paying
> a severe penalty would require a much tougher campaign of discipline
> - REDUCE. This campaign is attempting what will hopefully be an
> easier campaign - RECYCLE.
>
> I fully support the Mayor. It's good for the taxpayers and it's good
> for the state.
>
> One additional comment. There's a rebate incentive, again on a
> sliding scale, for those cities that reach recycling rates of 24% or
> better.
>
> Imagine if Providence were to be as successful as East Providence or
> Central Falls. By my calculation, if we were to stay below our cap
> and recycle just over 24%, we'd pay ~$1.4M and even get a rebate
> check for $60,629. Instead, if we do nothing and track according to
> the projection, we'll be paying $2.4M at the end of this fiscal
> year. A million dollars is no small change.
>
> -Tony Adams
> 286 Rochambeau Avenue
>
> On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 8:14 PM, Theresa Mathiesen
> <elvamath at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, all,
>
> Well, Providence has been trying to get us to voluntarily recycle for
> years, right? Why aren't we? From my observations at work, where
> recycling containers are all over the place, some people think about
> recycling a lot and others don't think about it at all. My guess is
> that this is an attempt to get the nonthinkers to think about it.
>
> The plain fact is that the Johnston Landfill is running out of room.
> It has only one or two years left. A little more, if we can dump
> less. What happens when it *is* out of room? Do we taxpayers have to
> pay lots more to dump in someone else's landfill? All the garbage has
> to go somewhere.
>
> My hat's off to those who finish the week with so little garbage,
> cans, and paper. Please, put out your wheeled bin, and feel free to
> stop by and borrow a can, bottle, or newspaper off me for your blue
> and green bins.
>
> Best,
> Elva
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 3:45 PM, Greg Gerritt
> <gerritt at mindspring.com> wrote:
> > The stickers cost way less than the $300K that more recycling will
> save the
> > city. More and more cities around the country and the world are
> going to
> > mandatory recycing. It is about time. And if there is no
> enforcement, you
> > get no additional recycling. Greg gerritt
> >
> >
> > on 10/28/09 12:12 PM, David Zenofsky at davidzen at yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > So I guess that explains the new stickers on the trash cans...
> Wonder how
> > much those cost us? I thought the city was hurting for cash, but
> they can
> > afford frivolous things like stickers hawking a new recycling
> initiative?
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Brian Leveille <brian.leveille at gmail.com>
> > To: Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> > Sent: Wed, October 28, 2009 11:23:11 AM
> > Subject: [Summit] I fail to see the logic in the new GreenUp
> requirements.
> >
> > So I just got an email from the City announcing the upcoming
> change in trash
> > pickup:
> >
> >
> > GREEN UP PROVIDENCE is part of Operation Opportunity
> > <http://www.providenceri.com/press/article.php?id=490> , a new
> initiative to
> > double Providence’s recycling rate and save nearly $300,000 in waste
> > disposal fees. Starting on Monday, November 2, 2009, residents
> will need to
> > place BOTH their recycling bins (or containers for segregated
> recyclables)
> > at the curb on trash day next to their Big Green Can. Two recycling
> > containers must be placed at the curb with each Big Green Can or
> the trash
> > will not be picked up.
> >
> >
> > Looking at the FAQ (http://www.providenceri.com/green/docs/GreenUP_faq.pdf
> )
> > I see a tad more info like:
> >
> > What if I don’t have enough recyclables to fill my bins each week?
> > Your recycling bins don’t have to be full for your trash to be
> collected.
> > All you need is to put out your bin.
> >
> > The recycling truck collects before the trash truck, and I bring
> my bins in
> > right away. How will they know I recycle?
> > The garbage collectors won’t know you recycle if you bring your
> bins in
> > right away, so residents need to leave their empty bins next to
> their trash
> > cans and bring all containers in at the same time.
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm an avid recycler, but I probably only fill my recycling bins
> twice a
> > month.
> >
> > My question to everyone is: what is the city trying to do by
> forcing me to
> > put empty bins out every other week? It seems silly to me to not
> get my
> > trash picked up (which I pay (a lot of) taxes for) because I don't
> use
> > enough plastic bottles to fill my recycle bins every week. (Heh,
> maybe I
> > should just get an extra 6 pack of beer every now and then to put
> in the
> > bin. Ya, I like that idea!)
> >
> > Is this a social experiment to see if forcing people to put out
> recycling,
> > by NOT picking up trash, will encourage more recycling? Won't NOT
> picking
> > up trash cause MORE rodent problems (which is why we got the bins
> in the
> > first place)??
> >
> > -BL
> >
> > ________________________________
> > _______________________________________________
> > Summit mailing list
> > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> > http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
> > SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Summit mailing list
> > Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> > http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
> > SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Summit mailing list
> Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
> http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.us
> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>
> <ATT00001.txt>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://sna.providence.ri.us/pipermail/summit_sna.providence.ri.us/attachments/20091101/f182b9a9/attachment.htm>
More information about the Summit
mailing list