Public Works calls for feedback on recycling program

Before the City of Sundance makes a decision on the future of its recycling, Public Works Director Mac Erickson is looking to gather input from as many residents as possible. Should the program continue exactly as it is, with weekly curbside pickups, or is it time to do something different?

“We’ve seen a big decrease in recycling. In wintertime it does decrease quite a bit anyway but it just doesn’t seem like we’ve been getting the volume that we have in months and years past that makes it worth the time and investment,” says Erickson.

“My biggest question is, do people still want the curbside? Are they happy with the service? Stop by city hall and talk to us or call to provide some feedback. I’m just trying to get as much information as I can to make the right decision.”

Whether or not changes are made, CW Waste was last week awarded a new contract to continue picking up the blue bags from the transfer station and hauling them away. Recycling will still be included as a $4.75 mandatory fee for residents and the commercial cardboard program will continue.

“People pay a fee to recycle and we need to keep that fee to get rid of whatever recyclables we have at the transfer station,” he explains.

However, Erickson is looking into the possibility of bringing an end to the curbside pickups and asking residents to bring their blue bags directly to the transfer station.

“I want to spend the month researching it: tracking quantities, volumes and what we’re actually getting out of the curbside program,” he says. “This month, I want to get the public’s input. We either need to rehab the recycling or get rid of it or have a voluntary site so the people who want to recycle still have a spot to take it.”

There are several reasons to consider a change, Erickson says, the first of which is financial. Recycling cost the city $7000 per month when Western Waste was providing the service from start to finish.

This was later revisited and the city took over the curbside portion of the process. While this saved quite a bit of cash, Erickson says, it would be hard to put an exact figure on it because the curbside element and sorting at the transfer station still require the time of city staff.

“The city doesn’t make any money off recycling,” Erickson says. While it used to be a potential revenue stream for municipalities, the price offered for individual recyclables now is too low.

The financial side is not the only consideration, however. As well as the time investment needed to perform the weekly pickups, according to Erickson, “The hardest part is educating people on our curbside program.”

Recycling can be a complicated business, partly in terms of working out exactly which items can be recycled and which can’t, and partly because of contamination. Recyclable items must be clean or they can’t be accepted, Erickson says, which means no unrinsed cans, no greasy pizza boxes and so on.

However, he explains, “There’s no way to educate people with our current system because we just pick it up and get rid of it.”

Residents are therefore left unaware that they are doing things incorrectly, Erickson says.

“They think they’re doing the right thing because we picked it up, but we picked it up because we don’t want it blowing around and making a mess and because we’re there,” he says.

“We go around and pick up whatever is there – if it’s contaminated, we still pick it up.”

Could there be a compromise? Erickson has thought about the possibility of dropping to biweekly curbside pickups, for example.

However, it would be a much bigger task on pickup days, plus it could be confusing for residents who would need to keep track of the schedule. This will be one of the possibilities Erickson investigates over the next month, while he is also open to suggestions from the public.

There are also various possibilities when it comes to educating users of the recycling program that a blue bag will be rejected in its entirety if approximately 10% of its contents are contaminated.

For example, the city could make use of social media and its website or could leave notes for individual residents.

“It’s a big decision for the town. There are several personalities on recycling,” he says. While some people are avid supporters of the recycling program, others don’t much like it and there are also those who don’t have a particular opinion either way and will use the service on an irregular basis.

A sheet will be available at the front desk of city hall for residents to indicate whether or not they support the continuation of the curbside program. Members of the public are also encouraged to share their thoughts while visiting or calling city hall.

“I think if we get as much feedback as we can, we can make a better decision,” Erickson says.