Committee Looking for Ways to Increase, Enforce Recylcling

The  discussed ways to enforce city recycling rules and increase the frequency of recycling in College Park at its Monday meeting.

Although the city code requires residents who receive garbage pick-up services from the city to separate used, recyclable newspapers from trash, such rules are not actually enforceable, said committee head Stephen Jascourt.

According to the city code, the city's garbage collectors are not required to pick up trash that includes recyclable newspapers. But it's not always immediately noticeable, unless the newspapers are on top.

However, "Nobody is going to propose opening that to inspect it," Jascourt said.

Those who do not separate newspapers from the rest of their trash, bundled in stacks no higher than 12 inches for the once-a-week pickup, are subject to a $10 fee, according to the code.

Committee member Ballard Troy suggested looking at the example set by the city of Laurel, MD to enforce city rules that also require residents to separate recycling from trash.

Michele Blair, recycling coordinator for Laurel and office manager for the Department of Public Works, said the city's recycling enforcement program is "more sugar than vinegar," focusing on monitoring and educating rather than punishment. Laurel's recycling pick-up service records how often residents of single and multi-family homes set out their recycling bins, provided by the city.

If it's less than twice a month, the city will investigate. If officials discover the resident is including recyclables with their trash, the resident will be notified that he/she has violated the city code.

"Sometimes, it's because they don't know [the rules] ... Sometimes, it's because they don't have a bin," Blair said.

Most of the time, residents will comply with the mandatory separation of recyclables and trash at that point. If not, the city will issue a fine ranging from $25 for first-time offenders to $100 for repeat offenders, Blair said.

Laurel trash collectors who notice recyclables in trash bags are also required to place a bright orange sticker on the bag, instructing the resident to call the Department of Public Works. The department then informs the resident of the separation policy.

"Once you don't pick up someone's trash ... They will call," Blair said.

Blair said the only real resources required to get the program up and running was man power, the biggest challenge being collecting addresses for the 6,000-plus residences in Laurel that use the city recycling services. The process took about a month in 2007.

The Laurel model is just a suggestion at this point, however.

"This is just one of many different things we'll look at," Jascourt said, and said that the committee is no where near making a proposal to the city council for a method of code enforcement.