Changes to Tulsa's residential trash system

[nathanm]

it is a cash sink, not a revenue generator.

No, it's an avoidance of the future cost of having to permit and open new landfills, among other things. That saves each and every one of us money in the long run.

[Hoss]

Even if the city provides you a bin, it will come out of your pocket.

Now I have to pay for your recycling.   Most of which, while "good" for the environment is a cash sink, not a revenue generator.

How are you paying for Tulsa residents recycling?  I get the inference you don't even live in Tulsa.  If you do indeed live here, then my apologies.

I just don't see how someone who doesn't live in the affected area should be complaining about the Tulsa trash contract.  Unless it affects someone they care for and have to pay bills for.

[Red Arrow]

May have to get together with the neighbors and buy a communal chipper/shredder...

Get a real one, not one like you see at the big box stores.  I looked into them a few years ago. 

[dsjeffries]

Now I have to pay for your recycling.   Most of which, while "good" for the environment is a cash sink, not a revenue generator.

Not true. Many cities make a lot of money from their recycling programs. Not every commodity makes money, but in most cases, those that do more than make up for those that don't.
Flagstaff. Austin. Portland. Philadelphia. Denver. Just a short list of cities that make money from their recycling programs.

[TeeDub]

Is that counting the mandatory fees on residents?    Or do they make money only once you figure in the $3-5 per household?

[Hoss]

Is that counting the mandatory fees on residents?    Or do they make money only once you figure in the $3-5 per household?

There's no 'mandatory' fee for recycling right now.  Only if you want to recycle through the city and enter into the program.  Let's not be misleading here.

[carltonplace]

Even if the city provides you a bin, it will come out of your pocket.

Now I have to pay for your recycling.   Most of which, while "good" for the environment is a cash sink, not a revenue generator.

Nope. It's a money maker.
The city pays around $100 for each trip to the landfill
The city gets paid around $100 for each trip to the recycling center.

[dsjeffries]

"Ron Gonen, RecycleBank's cofounder and CEO, reports that the benefits of incentivizing the recycling behaviors of individuals can make whole cities much greener. In
fact, Gonen reports that: "We've taken cities with almost no recycling and brought them to 40 percent of their trash being diverted from waste" [35]. For municipalities and waste haulers, this means that rather than having to pay the rising tipping fees for delivering MSW to landfills, they can actually reverse the equation, earning money on the volume of waste products that are directed towards recycling [4]."

p.10, http://airccse.org/journal/ijsea/papers/0101e1.pdf

Emphasis mine.

[carltonplace]

"Ron Gonen, RecycleBank's cofounder and CEO, reports that the benefits of incentivizing the recycling behaviors of individuals can make whole cities much greener. In
fact, Gonen reports that: "We've taken cities with almost no recycling and brought them to 40 percent of their trash being diverted from waste" [35]. For municipalities and waste haulers, this means that rather than having to pay the rising tipping fees for delivering MSW to landfills, they can actually reverse the equation, earning money on the volume of waste products that are directed towards recycling [4]."

p.10, http://airccse.org/journal/ijsea/papers/0101e1.pdf

Emphasis mine.

I think this trumps all other arguments.

[RecycleMichael]

The company I work for is proof of the biggest benefit of recycling. Recycling makes jobs. We now employ 120 workers with disabilities to recycle at our 13 recycling drop-off centers. I don't talk about it much, but it is something I am proud of.

Oklahoma manufacturers that use recycled materials as raw materials now employ 5,000 people with a annual payroll of $200 million. The largest private employers in Muskogee and Sapulpa are on this list.

When you recycle, you make jobs for the hard to employ and that makes more jobs for Oklahoma.

[Hoss]

Nope. It's a money maker.
The city pays around $100 for each trip to the landfill
The city gets paid around $100 for each trip to the recycling center.

I think TD might be inhaling shadows' 'pink gas'....

[Conan71]

The company I work for is proof of the biggest benefit of recycling. Recycling makes jobs. We now employ 120 workers with disabilities to recycle at our 13 recycling drop-off centers. I don't talk about it much, but it is something I am proud of.

Oklahoma manufacturers that use recycled materials as raw materials now employ 5,000 people with a annual payroll of $200 million. The largest private employers in Muskogee and Sapulpa are on this list.

When you recycle, you make jobs for the hard to employ and that makes more jobs for Oklahoma.

Feel free to brag all you like, that's very good news!

[TeeDub]

Does the city of Tulsa actually make money on recycling?    I know they charge $2/month for the privilege.   


I was reading a couple of articles online (seeing if I could actually find a profitable recycling program) and several stated things like "When curbside recycling goes online, all sanitation customers will pay $2 a month, whether they participate or not."   Suddenly the recycling effort showed a "profit." or "[George Dreckmann, Madison's recycling coordinator,] said it costs nearly $6 million to run the city's recycling programs and Madison receives about $1.1 million from a state recycling grant."

I am just curious how many of these efforts would pay for themselves without additional charges or some form of subsidy.

[RecycleMichael]

George Dreckman is one of my best friends. We served together for six years on the board of the National Recycling Coalition.

Tulsa spends $2 million a year to burn residential trash. Tulsa spends $9 million a year to pick up residential trash. It works out to be about $85 a ton.

The new contractor will pick up recyclables from every home for less than $3 million a year and split any revenue 80/20 giving the city the 80 %.

Tulsa will not make $3 million dollars from selling the recyclables. They will make about a third of that the first year. Tulsa should also save another $400K from avoided disposal costs that first year.

Trash is going to cost $10 million dollars the first year and recycling is going to cost $1.6 million the first year. If people really get out and recycle, it will do even better financially. Recycling will also create many more jobs.

If trash loses $10 million and recycling only loses $1.6 million, I would think it would be preferred to ask people to recycle.

[shadows]

If Tulsa has 125,000 meters at the present rate of $15.52 then the take each month is $1,940,000 or yearly $23,280,000 plus extras.  Now that is a tad bunch of money.   

Seems most of the citizens don’t realized that storage of the 95 gal carts can be a problem.   Many citizens can remember when code enforcement ruled the you could not have anything setting on your lot between the earth and sky.  Remember the house some years ago that got a ticket because there was an anti-freeze container sitting under their car port?  They ordered me to remove my telescope ( with a 6” mirror) mount and the a frame for the porch swing set in concrete because the wooden swing was off the chains for repairs.

Most people have not understood that every thing placed in the carts must be bagged or the trash cops will give you a ticket.  They should not be mislead in thinking 13 gal trash bags can be bought for 12 cents apiece. Nor do they generate 8 bags of trash a week.