Council Hears Recycling Plan

Increasing the rate of recycling in the city is a priority, Easton Public Works Director David Hopkins told city council members at their workshop meeting Tuesday evening, and a partnership with Recyclebank will help the city meet that goal.

The city wants to earn higher grant rebates and also increase its eligibility for capital grant funding, as well as position itself favorably for waste disposal bids when the city's contract expires in Dec. 2013, Hopkins said.

“We want to earn higher annual grant repays,” Hopkins said, estimating the program could bring in an additional $10-15,000 for the city.

Recyclebank, a company that provides redeemable for discounts to participating households, would tag recycling receptacles with radio frequency ID tags that would be used to track participation and award the points to users' accounts.

The annual cost would be $40,000 or about $5.33 per household. Mayor Sal Panto said funds would be found in the city budget to pay for the program.

It was unclear whether costs would be passed on to residents, but Panto said the average savings would far outweigh any possible increase.

“We believe that if there is an increase, it will be less than what an average household will make back on the program,” Panto said. He added that waste disposal costs have risen, but the city has not yet passed on that cost to residents.

“Those who don't respond (and join Recyclebank) would obviously eat that cost,” Hopkins said.

“This would apply to people under the city (waste disposal) contract,” he said.

Those under private contracts, such as mixed-use and commercial buildings, would probably be included at a later date. The city might also eventually include drop-offs at the city recycling facility in the Recyclebank program too.

While the city would pay to partner with Recyclebank, Raritan Valley would bear all the costs of outfitting their trucks.

“There's no additional cost. Raritan Valley is going to make it happen,” Hopkins said.

Still, there will be some work involved on the part of the city.

“We have not fully formulated a plan for affixing the tags,” Hopkins said. “I think it's going to take three times to get everybody, but we will get them.”

The tags will not carry information that could compromise residents' privacy, said Recyclebank Regional Sales Director Michael D'Angelo.

“It's more secure than EZPass or what's in your mailbox,” D'Angelo said, adding that only a number will be attached to the RFID tag.

Hopkins said that under the program, all recyclables would be placed in the same receptacle.

“We think it's time to go single stream,” he said. “We are making it so easy, you don't have to sort anything.”

Households would get 300 points for joining, and then are awarded 2 ½ points per pound for recycled materials. The amount recycled per household would be calculated by weighing the total haul for a given day and averaging the amount among participating Recyclebank members.

“That's not fair,” said council member Sandra Vulcano.

Hopkins said the program would favor senior citizens, since if they participate, they would receive the same amount of points as a large family living in the same neighborhood.

The average reward “costs” 50 points, Recyclebank representatives said.

Participants would have the status of their accounts updated by email, and those without access to the Internet would be able to handle their accounts by phone.

Set for vote before the council in June, if approved, Recyclebank will embark on a 90-day roll-out campaign to notify the 7,210 households of the city's plans, enroll members, and engage local and regional rewards partners, said D'Angelo.

Recyclebank vice president Robert Milligan said there is no cost for local businesses to get involved, other than the cost of whatever discount they are offering.

“Another attractive aspect of this program is that it sets up local businesses (if they choose to join as rewards partners),” Hopkins added.

Hopkins hopes if approved by the city council, the program will significantly raise the rates of recycling in the city.

“We're probably underperforming to some extent,” he said.