CHAPTER FOUR: RECYCLING IN THE CITY The Beginning The City of Manassas first started recycling in 1989 under the direction of John Cartwright, the City Manager, and the program was one of the very first to start collecting curbside in the Northern Virginia region. Starting out with newspapers, and glass, the program was expanded in 1991 to include aluminum cans, plastic milk jugs and soda bottles. City offices also recycled white paper. The City reported a 12.5% recycling rate to the state in 1991. Commercial tons were provided by IBM, the largest employer in the City. From that starting point, the City has expanded its voluntary programs and what it recycles curbside. Figure 4-1: Proper Yardwaste Containers Prior to the 1990 s, grass, leaves, and branches from residents were disposed of in the trash, collected by a contractor, burned, or collected by City crews. To find a better solution than landfilling at Prince William County Landfill or burning, City staff investigated setting up their own yard waste collecting and processing plant in 1991. Concurrently, only Fairfax County and Arlington were the only other local jurisdictions collecting grass and leaves curbside. By using their expertise and advice, the City decided to institute their own program, but stopped short of creating a composting facility. They designed a simple curbside program in which City crews collected leaves using a leaf machine and two trucks. City crews would travel City streets on a rotating schedule picking up leaves from October to December. Then leaves were hauled to a local sod farm for reuse. In order to increase the amount of yard waste collected, the City added a courtesy truck program for individual use in 1992. Brush and branches gathered from City streets were chipped up and reused in the City s Parks and Cemeteries. Eight hundred and nine tons (809) were recovered and recycled in 1992. To educate and encourage City residents to reduce the amount of yardwaste produced, compost classes were conducted by local master gardeners experienced in composting. 1994 Yardwaste Program When a new contract with Browning Ferris Industries (BFI) was signed in 1994, an additional curbside yard waste collection was included, but Christmas trees and a fall loose leaf collection were still being collected by City crews. The new curbside Yardwaste program included several improvements: residents could use a plain trash can or biodegradable paper bags, 4-1
branches had to be cut into 4 feet lengths and tied into bundles, and they had to place a 50 cent sticker on each container for set out. Figure 4-2: Tied Bundles for Yardwaste Collection This last component was an attempt to REDUCE the amount of grass, leaves, and brush that was set out by requiring residents to spend more when they set out their yardwaste for disposal instead of reusing it, or composting the materials themselves. Stickers and biodegradable paper bags were available at many local merchants. Stickers were purchased by merchants from the City. In turn, they sold the stickers to City residents at face value. One sticker was placed on each trash can, bundle, or biodegradable bag before collection. Contractor crews would tear off the stickers on trash cans before removing the materials from the curb. All organic materials were trucked to a composting farm on the border of Prince William County and Loudoun County about 10 miles away. The program ran from March through November originally, but was extended to December in 1997. This was an effort to capture additional materials due to weather influences. Figure 4-3: Proper Containers for Yardwaste After using the sticker program for four years, the sticker requirement was removed from the program in 1998. City residents did not understand the reasoning behind the sticker idea. Contractors did not always remove the stickers on trash cans every week so some stickers remained on the containers for months. Several community (Home Owners Associations) HOA s had size and location restrictions on compost containers which made it difficult for people to compost. Their concern was that compost bins would invite rodents and other small animals to their communities. Although composting is a preferred method for disposal of yardwaste, many City residents do not have the desire or the time to devote to maintenance of a compost pile. In addition, there was nothing to prevent residents from throwing or hiding grass and leaves in the trash. City staff felt that the City could capture MORE yard waste and recycle it without using stickers. 4-2
At the same time (1998) the City revised its ordinances to require its residents to separate yardwaste from refuse, and gave the Refuse & Recycling Coordinator enforcement powers for this provision only (Chapter 98, 42 City of Manassas Code) Figure 4-4: Trend in Yardwaste Collection Yardwaste Tons Collected Curbside 1996-2009 3500 3000 2500 Tons 2000 1500 1000 500 0 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Year As Figure 4-4 indicates the City has incrementally captured more yard waste with the exception of 2002 after removing the sticker requirement and enacting ordinances to separate the materials from the trash. The Yardwaste Program was extended to year round in 2003 when Five Star Hauling, Inc. was awarded the refuse contract. This extension gave residents better service for storm debris removal in the months that the Yardwaste program did not operate. The City will continue to educate its residents on the benefits of grasscycling, composting, and using mulching lawnmowers as part of its yardwaste education program. Figure 4-5: Grasscycling Uses Christmas Tree Program The City s Street Department started collecting Christmas trees curbside before the early 1990 s. The trees were chipped up and used for mulch on City properties. In 1998 the Street Department turned this function over to the City s contractor at the time, Waste Management, Inc. All Christmas trees are taken to Balls Ford Road Composting facility operated by Prince William County, chipped up and used 4-3
for mulch or for compost material. This practice continues to the present. Curbside Recycle Program Figure 4-6: Recycle Bin at Curb At the start of the City s recycling program, the City collected glass, and newspapers (ONP) at the curb. Metal and aluminum cans were added in 1991. Number #1 (PETE) and #2 (HDPE) plastics were added in 1992. In 1998, mixed office paper was included when a new contract was awarded to ABC Disposal a local trash hauler which was adsorbed by Waste Management, Inc. This new mixed office materials consisted of magazines, colored paper, white office/computer paper, small catalogs, and file folders. A two-sort system was used to separate the fiber from the rest of the materials. Recyclables were taken to Prince William County Landfill where the paper products were handled by Southeast Paper Company, the glass and plastics was taken to Fairfax Recycling, and the metals were shipped to a smelter in Baltimore, Maryland. No new items were added until February 2008 when single stream was initiated. Wide-mouth plastic containers, aerosol cans, rigid plastics such as hard sided plastic cups and pails, bagged plastic film, gable-top milk and juice containers, books, aluminum foil, and cardboard boxes were added to curbside collection. Recycle Carts Added in 2009 Figure 4-7: Recycle Cart at Curb A new contract was signed in May 2009 with American Disposal Services, Inc. to provide a 64 gallon recycle cart instead of the usual 18 gallon bin. The new recycle carts are more convenient to use, having a top prevents litter from blowing around, and it is large enough to contain cardboard boxes and additional recycle materials. It was also used to encourage more townhouse residents to recycle. Carts were distributed to single family homes in September 2009. Because townhomes present unique storage problems, a post card was sent to all townhomes so they could choose between a 64 gallon cart or a 16 gallon recycle bin. Most people chose a cart, but not all. If a resident forgot to respond, they 4-4
could still request a cart or bin by contacting the Manassas Trash Line. Once residents saw their neighbor s using a cart, they wanted one too because it was so easy to use. Ownership of Recyclables Since the City started recycling in the early 1990 s, the City has always maintained that the recyclables obtained from the City were the property of the contractor when placed curbside. This philosophy was used as an incentive for the contractor to recycle, but all contractors that qualify to serve the City provide recycle services currently. In 2009, this idea changed when a recycle profit sharing paragraph was added to the new refuse/recycle contract. However, with slowing down of the economy in 2008, recycle profits have not reached the minimum level for sharing. Final destination of Recyclables According to the City s residential refuse contract, the contractor has to notify the City where they transport recycling materials from the City. The City has to concur with the MRF location. A site is evaluated by the Refuse & Recycling Coordinator, and/or by the citizen s advisory committee at least once in the contract. Currently, recycle materials are taken to the Manassas Transfer Station, and then transported to its finally destination at Waste Management s Elkridge Recycling Facility in Elkridge, Maryland. Residential Trash and Recycle Table 4-8 on the next page depicts curbside trash and recycle amounts in the City from 1999-2009. Normally trash and recycle vary according to the amount of people moving in and out of the City, economic times, weather, and participation of its residents. In 2003-2004 there was a large influx of immigrants from Central and South America. With a large amount of foreclosures in 2008, trash amount decreased and recycle percentage leveled to 19% curbside. In late 2008 the City went to single stream recycling therefore causing a slight increase but the curbside percentage really jumped in 2009 as program materials were distributed and larger carts were delivered. The City anticipates another jump in curbside recycle in 2010. 4-5
Table 4-8: Residential Trash Tons and Recycling Tons City of Manassas Resident Generated Trash and Recycle 1999-2009 20,000 18,000 16,000 TONS 14,000 12,000 10,000 8,000 11,012 11,657 11,430 13,140 13,746 15,213 14,740 13,974 12,919 12,284 11,812 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 3,198 3,425 2,849 2,911 22.5% 22.7% 20.0% 18.1% 1999 2000 2001 2002 4,059 4,067 3,529 3,517 3,340 3,166 3,342 22.8% 18.62% 19.26%19.29%19.60%22.17% 25.60% 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 YEAR RECYCLE REFUSE Business Recycling In 1997, the Refuse & Recycling Coordinator surveyed over 2000 businesses asking them to report what type, if any recycling was being done in the City. Many of these businesses were small, or out of the home type that used the curbside collection services, but others such as Lockheed Martin (used to be IBM), Dominion Semiconductor (now Micron), BAE Systems, and Prince William Hospital provided important information. This voluntary survey provided a much clearer picture about what types and who was doing the business recycling in the City. It also gave insight into how much commercial trash is produced and where it goes other than through the Waste Transfer Station operated by Waste Management, Inc. within the City of Manassas. Large apartment complexes which are considered commercial are not included in the City provided contract so it gave the City an opportunity to obtain additional trash and recycling information from those who responded. Finding the Figures In 1997 the first business survey was patterned after the US EPA publication, Measuring Recycling, A Guide for State and Local Governments, which gave instructions and suggestions 4-6
on how and where to obtain recycling information. Yearly revisions have been made since that time to reflect better ways to obtain the necessary information. Every year businesses are added or deleted. Local refuse companies are instrumental in providing business trash and recycle amounts. Due to reporting requirements in neighboring jurisdictions, they are more likely to have the information at hand. The average small business man does not know nor do they keep any information on what they trash or recycle. They may know that they do or do not recycle, but they have no idea of how much. In the case of Manassas, some do not know if they do business within the City as Manassas covers more than just City boundaries. Since recycling is not mandatory in the City, there is no incentive for businesses to know what they produce. In some corporate grocery chains, such as Giant Foods, all recycling is hauled to a centralized location which may or not be within the state. The United States Postal Offices work in the same manner. So it is imperative to find the right person who has the information. Telephone conversations are utilized to obtain the necessary information. Sharing of information between recycling professionals is also used to identify hard to find recycling trails. Figure4-9: Sign at Micron Technologies The large corporations, Lockheed Martin, Micron Technologies, BAE, and others who participate in Waste Watchers, ISO or other EPA programs keep accurate figures on disposal, recycling and reduction of materials. Those programs stress knowing what is produced, how to reduce hazardous materials, and recycling. Both Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems are classified as E-3 which is the highest degree of environmental excellence in Virginia s Environmental Excellence Program and are classified as ISO 14000 companies, the highest class of industrial environmental awareness and compliance standards. By 2009 Lockheed Martin has effectively reduced its landfill disposal to less than a ton per year. Most of the leftover materials are considered hazardous waste. Contractor Requirement Since starting its recycling program in 1989, the City has depended upon its curbside contractor to provide recycling and disposal figures to the City on a monthly basis. At one time various recycle contractors provided recycle figures to the City, but currently City government recycling is handled by the present residential contractor. City of Manassas Government Departments Report The City s Street Department provides figures on their loose curbside leaf collection, the Courtesy truck tons, and all of the materials that are taken to the Manassas Transfer Station from street cleaning, debris cleanup, and anything dealing with maintenance of the streets. The Electric Department and Vehicle Maintenance also report when they recycle copper wire, 4-7