Government-supported, curbside recycling programs have been successful in neighboring cities

Just about any discarded item, from an empty soda can to granny’s worn-out rocking chair, can be recycled for new uses.

Sounds easy, but it’s not.

Though Bristol Tennessee and Sullivan County, Tenn., and Bristol Virginia and Washington County, Va., have active recycling programs, they do not have curbside service.

Officials from both sides of the state line say the costs are just too high to provide the service and residents are not pushing to bring more efficient recycling to their doorsteps.

Meanwhile, neighboring cities in the region do have curbside service and report that their voluntary programs are gaining speed.

"There’s a lot of apathy around here about recycling," said Mike Campbell, Bristol Virginia environmental and safety compliance officer. "The only way you’re going to get people involved – I mean the people that aren’t in business to make a buck from recycling – is to make it mandatory. The people that think they should be getting paid for their recyclables don’t understand that in the long run, they do get something for recycling. For one, your taxes won’t go up to keep the landfill in operation."

In July 1992, both Bristols took a shot at operating a residential curbside recycling service. They teamed with Houston-based Waste Management, which picked up recyclables at residences in both cities on a monthly subscription basis.

"At that time, there was about 1,700 total customers," said Bill Sorah, Bristol Tennessee deputy city manager/public works. "Both cities charged $2.50 per household per month, which in turn was used to pay the company. As the program moved forward, it appeared that more people wanted to use the drop-off centers."

In June 1994, Waste Management informed the cities they would need to increase the fee to $3 per household to maintain service. The cities agreed.

"By July 1997, their total customer base [both cities] dropped to 750, and they proposed a new rate of $5.79 per household," Sorah said. "I think at that point, everyone realized more citizens would probably not use the service, and it was stopped."

Sorah said neither city made a dime from the program, and he could only speculate whether a publicly operated curbside service would make sense.

"I don’t hear anyone asking me about bringing curbside service back," said Bristol Tennessee Mayor David Shumaker. "We tried it, but it’s just too expensive. That’s why we don’t have it."

But both Kingsport and Johnson City provide the service to more than 60 percent of their residents. Those numbers are increasing, and proceeds are paying to operate the recycling services.

As Beth Wilkerson tossed her recyclables into a bin behind Vance Middle School a few weeks ago, she talked about Bristol’s need for curbside service.

"There comes a time when you have to do something," she said. "We moved here from Dallas when they did have curbside. It didn’t last very long, and I think we were the only ones on our block doing it. I think it either has to be made mandatory or we can’t do it at all. We’re so behind the curve."

The Bristol Tennessee Solid Waste Department provides weekly curbside collection of household refuse, brush and bulk items, but it does not pick up specific recyclables at the curb.

"I’ll be honest with you, we don’t get a lot of calls from citizens who say they want us to do this," said Wes Ritchie, Bristol Tennessee public services director. "I think curbside service – no doubt – would be a convenience for the homeowners. But to provide that service, there would have to be enough people that wanted it to justify the cost."

Ritchie said the city has not identified curbside recycling as an objective this fiscal year.

"It just hasn’t been identified as a goal," he said. "Is it coming in the future? I just don’t know."

If a city is going to offer full curbside recycling service, it must consider costs for labor, trucks and other equipment. It also must identify a market to sell the recyclables as a commodity – not just as a way to get rid of them.

Bristol Tennessee would have to do some research first.

"It was found that 10 percent of the 900 tons a month taken across the state line and dumped in the Bristol Virginia landfill could be recycled; that could be the break-even point," Ritchie said.

Currently, all residential solid waste picked up by Bristol Tennessee is taken directly to the bottom of the landfill across the state line, Ritchie said.

"As soon as it hits the ground, it’s their waste," he said of Bristol Virginia. "We pay them by the ton to take it."

Bristol Tennessee doesn’t get a penny from any recyclable items found and separated at the landfill, but it does collect items – such as building materials, appliances and tires – at a demolition landfill at 501 Patterson Hill Road.

"The white goods [refrigerators, washers, dryers] are set to the side, they’re not buried," Ritchie said. "Every so often, we call Environmental Recycling in Lexington, Ky., and they take it away. The money we do get from selling that goes back into solid waste operations. We also have an account with R.W. Edwards, who hauls the tires to Johnson City for recycling. But we get no revenues from that; it’s just a matter of keeping them out of the landfill."

Bristol Tennessee also has drop-off sites where residents can put cardboard, plastics and other materials.

Ritchie said Bristol Tennessee could be doing more to collect and sell recyclables.

"Sure," he said. "If you make things more convenient for the homeowner – if they simply have to set it out at the curb – think about it: If you had a cart to throw your newspaper in, would you be more likely to throw it in?"

Genette Patton, Keep Bristol Beautiful director, said one reason the attempt at curbside recycling didn’t work was because "people thought they should be getting paid for these household items."

"But there is a lot more awareness about the benefits of recycling now, and that a curbside program could work," she said. "One day we’ll be mining our landfills for valuable resources that we’re burying today."

Where it goes

The Bristol Virginia landfill off Shakesville Road is the nearest Class I landfill that accepts most recyclable items. They also accept "white goods," the term for washers, dryers and refrigerators.

The landfill also has an on-site tire shredder and recycles mulch and compost for resale.

"We’re not in the recycling business," said Allen Morris, Bristol Virginia solid waste manager. "We pull items out of the waste stream, like TVs, electronics, batteries and light bulbs. That’s sent to Southeast Recycling Technology, a privately owned company in Johnson City. We don’t make much from that. It just goes back into our operating budget, but we do get the satisfaction that it’s not in our landfill."

Morris said "spotters" at the landfill look for items such as scrap steel, television monitors and other things that residents toss into their garbage.

"They can’t catch everything," he said. "But if John Q. Public wants to bring a TV out here, we have a place for it."

Morris said he’s heard no talk lately about bringing back curbside service. He also seemed certain that residential recycling habits on either side of the state line probably will not change for some time.

"You put the bins out, and the people that want to recycle will drop off," he said. "If they’re not interested, they’re going to stick recyclables in their trash cans, and it ends up in the landfill. And the majority of people that go to the recycling bins – and it’s been this way for years – are people in their 60s or older."

Twice a year, the landfill has a "household hazardous waste collection day" when used oil, pool chemicals, batteries, solvents and other hazardous wastes are accepted. These collection days are for Bristol Virginia residents only.

Bristol Tennessee hauls its residential waste across the state line to this facility, and both cities use their own resources to pick up residential waste. Commercial service is provided by Waste Management, Allied Waste or Cox Disposal.

Recycling bins are located at drop-off sites at most schools in Bristol Tennessee and Sullivan County. The majority of these sites are operated by the county.

Recyclable items in Sullivan County also are accepted at the Raytheon Road Transfer Station and the Kingsport Transfer Station off Brookside Drive.

Paint is accepted at these stations at any time.

Sullivan County officially opened a new drop-off center on Oct. 17 at 100 Lakecrest Drive in Colonial Heights.

Bristol Virginia operates drop-off sites at its elementary and middle schools, and at Virginia High School. Washington County has four convenience stations and one mobile site.

Both cities send the majority of recyclable items to Recycle America, a recycling center in Kingsport owned by Houston-based Waste Management.

Sullivan County and diversion

Sullivan County provides no residential garbage pick-up. Residents outside of Bristol and Kingsport have the option of hauling their waste to the two transfer stations in either city or contracting with private haulers – Waste Management, Allied Waste or Cox Disposal.

Sullivan County hauls all of its solid waste from the transfer centers to the Iris Glen Environmental Center in Johnson City.

County residents must also take their recyclables to drop-off bins behind most schools, at the transfer stations and at other recycling locations throughout the county.

"This county is 87 miles from one end to the other," said Marvin "Buck" Johnson, Sullivan County recycling coordinator. "We could never pay for curbside service. But residents can call Waste Management or Allied and set something up with them. So, it’s really the homeowners’ choice."

Johnson said the county’s recycling effort is not producing profits.

"It’s just the fact that we’re helping the environment," he said. "What we get for that pretty much pays for our operations."

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has established goals for Class I landfills in Tennessee to reduce solid waste by 25 percent each year.

"Reduction" also is considered "diversion" in the solid-waste game.

Other materials that are not recyclables, such as construction and demolition materials, are taken to other classes of landfills and considered "diverted" from the Class I landfills.

Sullivan County uses the Beaver Creek demolition landfill in Bristol Tennessee and another demolition landfill in Kingsport for this purpose.

In 2006, the county sent more than 178,000 tons of solid waste to Iris Glen in Washington County, Tenn. But that number could have been about 120,000 tons more had recyclable items not been channeled elsewhere.

The county sent more than 37,000 tons to other landfills and recycled about 87,000 tons. That equates to a 41.1 percent reduction, or diversion, exceeding the TDEC’s goal of 25 percent.

Recycling efforts made up about 29 percent of all solid waste that could have, but did not make it into the main landfill.

Lucian Lawson, Sullivan County land-use director, said the county is not breaking even from its recycling program, but each year it gets a little better.

Lawson, who also is co-chairman of the Tennessee Solid Waste Directors Association, said the county brought in about $573,000 in 2006 from recycling efforts.

The problem is, the county spent about $700,000 to operate its recycling program, Lawson said.

"In Japan, they recycle about 90 percent of their waste," he said. "I don’t think we’ll ever see that, but 50 percent would be great. With the knowledge we have today, we could definitely increase the percent of solid waste that’s recycled. But there’s people that recycle, and people that don’t."

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