Curbside Recycling

[Plutonic Panda]

This is a copied post from Councilman Webb: I do think it’s enough. I don’t see a reason to revisit it. We have tried 3 options to offer as a result of 100s of citizens lobbying for it. As you can see, it’s a closely divided issue, and we have tried to hear the recycling coalition out, and offer plans. But I think it’s clear people are satisfied with the recycle center. It’s what I use myself, and I’m just fine with it as well.

People just need to get off their lazy butts and just go to the recycle center

Or join the rest of the world and offer curbside recycling.

[bombermwc]

Or join the rest of the world and offer curbside recycling.

This. The city could also negotiate a better price for the residents. They basically just offered whatever the recylcing firm wanted and left it there, mostly allowing it to fail.

The recycling center is barely used. In no way is it a substitute for curbside single stream. It's not about getting off our "lazy butts". It's just not practical for the majority of the citizens. If it was, then that center would have to be about 100 times larger than it is to accommodate everyone.

The city keeps setting it up to fail because of the price attached to it. If they could correct that, then this would pass. I've heard over and over from people that this is why they voted against it.

[bille]

This. The city could also negotiate a better price for the residents. They basically just offered whatever the recylcing firm wanted and left it there, mostly allowing it to fail.

The recycling center is barely used. In no way is it a substitute for curbside single stream. It's not about getting off our "lazy butts". It's just not practical for the majority of the citizens. If it was, then that center would have to be about 100 times larger than it is to accommodate everyone.

The city keeps setting it up to fail because of the price attached to it. If they could correct that, then this would pass. I've heard over and over from people that this is why they voted against it.

oh boy, this topic hurts me. I've been fully invested in recycling since the recycling center opened in 2013 and having a curbside option has been a big want since right about that time. We've tried 3 times to get this passed, it's very likely we'll never see this come up again, at least not for a very very long time.

The options are limited for the service and going with Republic is the easiest and cheapest option due to how large they are and how much the currently service. Moore's prices would be comparable to MWC since that is the city we are closest in size/homes. I don't think Moore could barter for much cheaper than what Republic was offering tbh but in my opinion, anything less than $5 a month would be a bargain.

There is a smaller company offering some recycling (and composting) for OKC and Norman that has launched a campaign to bring curbside recycling to Moore after the most recent vote. Unfortunately, it will be nowhere near as cheap, and they'll need a minimum number of customers obviously for it to make it worth it. You can sign up on the "interested" list and find out more information here: https://www.fertilegroundok.coop/recyclemoore

I have polled the city groups multiple times after every vote and the main reason it fails has nothing to do with the cost rather it's that everyone has to pay for the service even if you opt out. IMO Moore should have done like Edmond did, don't put it up for a vote instead just incorporate curbside recycling as part of the regular sanitation costs. Studies show four times as many people will participate when curbside is offered versus just having a recycling center and sanitation costs savings will equal out the cost. At one point Edmond was even offering a smaller trash bin since so many were recycling they didn't need a larger one any more. It's all a moot point now, much to my chagrin the voters of Moore have voted this down once again and I have accepted that.

[foodiefan]

. . .saw this last year in Tucson. . . wonder if it would/could be a "go" here. . .

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/18...uilding-blocks

[bombermwc]

I agree, don't put it up for vote, just do it. It's disgusting how much we throw out that could be recycled.

The contaminates and being honest about what happens to plastics, are something we all have to own. So much of the plastic that goes in there, well it ends up in a pile somewhere else in the world. So I dont want to pretend that just beacuse it goes in the blue bin, that it all works out nicely. There's a much more complex picture here where the packaging used really needs to change. And that's not going to happen unless companies are forced either by laws or by consumers demanding. it. Frankly, it's not going to happen from the consumer side because price is the all-mighty determiner for most buyers.

MWC has a lot of "don't put those in" rules that OKC doesn't, so it does make their process a bit more frustrating. Maybe we should partner with OKC instead of going on our own, and leveraging a bigger pool to work with?

[bille]

. . .saw this last year in Tucson. . . wonder if it would/could be a "go" here. . .

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/18...uilding-blocks

I couldn't love this idea more. I wonder if the carbon footprint is less than recycling the plastics? I think it would be less, perhaps a lot less. Certainly less resources and time needed to sort the plastics.

I wonder if some kind of grant could be used to get a program off the ground with the products being used for building homes for the unhoused?

[bille]

I agree, don't put it up for vote, just do it. It's disgusting how much we throw out that could be recycled.

The contaminates and being honest about what happens to plastics, are something we all have to own. So much of the plastic that goes in there, well it ends up in a pile somewhere else in the world. So I dont want to pretend that just beacuse it goes in the blue bin, that it all works out nicely. There's a much more complex picture here where the packaging used really needs to change. And that's not going to happen unless companies are forced either by laws or by consumers demanding. it. Frankly, it's not going to happen from the consumer side because price is the all-mighty determiner for most buyers.

MWC has a lot of "don't put those in" rules that OKC doesn't, so it does make their process a bit more frustrating. Maybe we should partner with OKC instead of going on our own, and leveraging a bigger pool to work with?

The most often quoted number is "roughly 70% of trash can be recycled". I dug around a lot trying to validate that number but that's not easy to do. That said, I have been recycling for over ten years now and based on our trash I'd wager that percentage is a good average. Numbers 1 & 2 plastics add up to al lot but even if zero plastics could be recycled many throw away a lot of paper, cardboard, aluminum and tin, all of which can be easily recycled.

As far as the difference between the metro's various curbside recycling programs I think the biggest difference between OKC and MWC (or Norman, Edmond, Shawnee or any of the others that use Republic) is that OKC allows for curbside glass pickup. An interesting note on that one though, OKC isn't "recycling" glass rather they are repurposing it within our landfills. As I write this I still believe the closest glass recycling plant is in Texas and the cost to ship it that far just isn't worth it. Republic has stated that it costs them money which is why they don't allow glass curbside, however they do still allow it in (some) of their drop locations.

[bombermwc]

Interesting. So what are they doing with the glass in the OKC landfill?

For it to be successful, i do think it's important that there aren't a million different things that you can or can't put in the single stream bucket. If you make it too complicated, people don't want to participate. So if OKC is taking the glass, just to remove it later, well maybe that's the right approach. I believe they are setting up some sorting facilities around town to be able to help do that pre-sort before it goes to Republic. Maybe Moore just needs a small one as well to make this work right.

[fortpatches]

The most often quoted number is "roughly 70% of trash can be recycled". I dug around a lot trying to validate that number but that's not easy to do. That said, I have been recycling for over ten years now and based on our trash I'd wager that percentage is a good average. Numbers 1 & 2 plastics add up to al lot but even if zero plastics could be recycled many throw away a lot of paper, cardboard, aluminum and tin, all of which can be easily recycled.

As far as the difference between the metro's various curbside recycling programs I think the biggest difference between OKC and MWC (or Norman, Edmond, Shawnee or any of the others that use Republic) is that OKC allows for curbside glass pickup. An interesting note on that one though, OKC isn't "recycling" glass rather they are repurposing it within our landfills. As I write this I still believe the closest glass recycling plant is in Texas and the cost to ship it that far just isn't worth it. Republic has stated that it costs them money which is why they don't allow glass curbside, however they do still allow it in (some) of their drop locations.

Dlubak glass is in Oklahoma and does recycling. They work with Fertile Ground in OKC as local glass dropoff.

[bille]

Interesting. So what are they doing with the glass in the OKC landfill?

For it to be successful, i do think it's important that there aren't a million different things that you can or can't put in the single stream bucket. If you make it too complicated, people don't want to participate. So if OKC is taking the glass, just to remove it later, well maybe that's the right approach. I believe they are setting up some sorting facilities around town to be able to help do that pre-sort before it goes to Republic. Maybe Moore just needs a small one as well to make this work right.

OKC is taking the glass, crushing it and using it as an ADC (alternate daily cover) in landfills.