Recycling effort in Twin City area is carried out by residents

While the Bristols do some recycling, they don’t share the same approach with their municipal next-door neighbors.

About 65 percent of single-family households in Johnson City receive curbside recycling service from their local government.

"We started it in 1990 with a pilot program, and it branched out from there," said Brenda Whisnant, Johnson City recycling coordinator. "Our workers sort the items at the curb, and we also have drop-off points for recycled items around the city."

The city provides a maroon recycling container at residents’ request, and includes the cost in its garbage fees. The container is assigned to the household and remains the property of the city. When a resident moves, the container is left at the same address.

Whisnant said the city converted a 25,000-square-foot warehouse into a "recovery site," where workers prepare the materials for shipment to various recycling centers.

"We market our own products, but we’re not making money on it yet," she said. "We’re getting there. But right now, we make just enough to keep operations going."

Newspapers, certain types of cardboard, aluminum cans and clear or brown glass containers are picked up. Other acceptable items include car batteries, motor oil poured into gallon milk jugs and household metal appliances.

Johnson City offers cardboard recycling for businesses and industries on a subscription basis. An 8-cubic-yard container can be rented for $20 per month with collection once a week for $10 per month. As many as five weekly collections are available if needed.

The city also offers voluntary office paper recycling for businesses at no cost, furnishing desktop containers and 65-gallon carts for collection.

"Everything we do is voluntary," Whisnant said. "They call us; we don’t call them."

Meanwhile, two Bristol Tennessee residents delivering recyclable items at one of that city’s drop-off sites said recently that curbside service works and that they would be happy to pay for it.

"I can’t stand people putting recyclable stuff in the trash," said Rocky Smith. "To me, this is about our future. It’s pretty easy, but most people I know don’t recycle. Whether they’re young or old, they should at least take a look at how a good curbside service works."

Tammy Coats pulled up to the site as Smith was pulling away.

"I wish they would pick it up at our house," she said while dropping off newspaper and cardboard. "It would help if the city provided curbside service." 

Kingsport is first Tennessee city to offer curbside recycling 

Kingsport began residential curbside recycling service in 1991 – not as a pilot program but as a city-wide service.

The plan stuck, and today Kingsport picks up recycled items at more than 16,500 homes at a cost per household of about $2 a month.

"We were actually the first city in Tennessee to offer the service to the city as a whole," said Ronnie Hammonds, Kingsport streets and sanitation manager.

Two separate crews show up on the same day, but at different times. One crew picks up garbage; the other crew collects the recyclables.

There are four city trucks used for curbside recycling, and each truck is manned by one person who physically separates paper from plastics, oil, metals and other items.

"We had to purchase recycling containers for houses, but we don’t ask our residents to sort anything," Hammonds said. "We made a commitment when we started this. Now, each month 70 percent of residents participate and the numbers are growing."

Kingsport partners with Sullivan County to provide two drop-off points inside its city limits.  Those locations are in the city behind the Civic Auditorium and Kingsport’s transfer station off Brookside Drive.

Hammonds said the city did not raise property taxes to pay for the service when it began, although a portion of tax revenues is used to pay for recycling operations.

"I don’t see anything extra on my bill, and the city really does a great job of organizing the recycling service," said Mickey Smith, a Kingsport business owner and resident. "I’m big on recycling anyway. I don’t have to, but I put my plastics in a bag and my newspaper and other paper in another pile."

When asked why Johnson City and Kingsport have seen resident participation increase over the years and the two Bristols have no curbside recycling service, Smith said it was a "lack of organization."

"If I was a Bristol representative, I’d get out here, jump on one of the trucks and see how it works," he said.

Back in Bristol Tennessee at a recycling drop-off site behind the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, two residents said they believe their city should get on the curbside bandwagon.

"I would recycle a lot more if we had it here, and that would give the city a chance to find a way to sell the materials," said Katy Sikorski. "I’d do the whole nine yards."

Kimberly Leonard, of Bristol, drops off her recyclables on a regular basis. But she said curbside service would result in more items that could be marketed for profit.

"Curbside would just make it all a lot easier," she said. "Right now, I have to separate the stuff at the house, load it up, drive down here and put things in the bins.

"It’s amazing to me how quickly the stuff adds up, and I’d like to see Bristol do curbside. Personally, I wouldn’t mind paying for it."

Meanwhile, Kingsport recently bought special equipment to grind up tree limbs and logs into wood chips for sale to a private company.

The city also started a used appliance recycling program in March 2004. The program offers curbside pick-up and drop-off at the demolition landfill free of charge. Another private company buys the appliances, and that revenue goes back into operations. 

"It all depends on supply and demand," Hammonds said about whether Kingsport eventually will turn a profit from its recycling efforts.

Asheville goes private, reduces landfill costs 

About 90 miles away, in Asheville, N.C., a private company handles the majority of residential and commercial recycling collection.

Curbside Management contracts with residents and businesses to pick up recyclable items. And yes, they’re in it to make a buck.

"If there was no profit in this, nobody would be doing it," said Barry Lawson, Curbside president. "It has to be profitable."

As costs to maintain city and county landfills increase, the more economical it becomes for private companies to collect, recycle and re-sell, Lawson said.

"Most residents we talk to understand that it can’t be a free service, especially when you think of a city trying to run to every household," he said.

The private, curbside service is voluntary, and the number of people signing up for the service in Asheville is on the rise.

"It seems that recycling has become a service people are looking for and expect," he said.

The city does have drop-off sites, and items also can be taken to the Buncombe County landfill. But that’s where the city and county step out of the picture.

"There’s a private waste hauler that collects those items and delivers to us at our 55,000-square-foot facility in Woodfin, just north of the city," Lawson said. "Once there, it’s sorted, processed and shipped.

"The city and county get a reduction in their landfill costs. That’s a lot of material they don’t have to deal with, so their operating costs are lower." 

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