Guest column: Recycling program has made a difference Posted: 2/23/2010
The following Guest Editorial by Gary Welch ran in The Des Moines Register on February 18, 2010.

Gary Welch is Chair of the Metro Waste Authority Board of Directors and an Ankeny City Councilman.  You may contact Gary at GWELCH@ANKENYIOWA.GOV.

There has been some interest recently in the Curb It! sorting and processing facility. Curb It! serves 20 communities and unincorporated Polk County in central Iowa. As the board chair of Metro Waste Authority, I welcome this interest and want residents to understand how the Curb It! program works.

The materials that are picked up from your curb and mine are taken by a hauler to a sorting facility operated by Greenstar (formerly MidAmerica Recycling). Metro Waste Authority contracts with Greenstar to sort the materials accepted in the Curb It! program. Greenstar underwent significant construction in the last six months to install new, automated sorting equipment.

During the construction, Metro Waste Authority noted a few of the conditions set forth in our agreement with Greenstar were not being met. We realize any new start-up has glitches to iron out, but we still expect them to meet contract obligations, and that is why Metro Waste Authority promptly sent a letter to Greenstar requiring the facility to fix the issues within 60 days (by Feb. 19). Metro Waste Authority wanted to be on record that lack of compliance with these conditions is not acceptable.

Now that the new sort lines are up and running, Greenstar is processing the material received during the construction in addition to the material it receives each day. All the recyclable material is being sorted, shipped and recycled. The recycling facility does receive some items put in carts by residents that are "not accepted" in the program. These items include kitchen sinks, garden hoses and plastic bags. These items account for less than 5 percent of materials received, and they are landfilled.

Both participation and recycling tonnages are up with the new Curb It! program. Residents are recycling 20 percent more materials than last year at this time. Please take a moment to pat yourselves on the back. Because of you, we are recycling nearly 50 tons of material each day. I believe this is due to the convenience and ease of the new program. Materials delivered to Greenstar are sorted using both automated equipment and manual labor.

The materials are divided into mixed paper, newspaper, cardboard, tin, glass, plastic and aluminum. Then they are baled together (or boxed in the case of glass), and shipped by rail or truck to facilities to be made into new products. Mixed paper (junk mail, etc.) goes to Louisiana and makes the inner sandwich part of boxes, or goes to Minneapolis to make paperboard for General Mills cereal boxes. Newspaper is shipped to Mexico to make Mexican newspapers (Mexican newspapers are very colorful) or made into UPS overnight mailers. Steel is recycled in Illinois into rebar and structural steel, and aluminum is recycled in Tennessee to make new beverage containers. Glass is sent to Colorado and is used to make Coors bottles or goes to Oklahoma to make other food containers. Plastics go to an Alabama manufacturer that makes car battery cases and paint containers, as well as other plastic parts for the auto industry. Other plastics are made into green strapping in Kentucky or are used in Mohawk carpeting. As consumers, I'm sure you recognize many of the brands and items. I find it exciting that the things I put in my recycling bin are made into things I use in my home and vehicle.

The Metro Waste Authority board of directors and I want you to be proud of the recycling we are doing here in the metro area. As citizens, you are making a difference by recycling between 1,300 and 1,600 tons each month in the Curb It! program, which otherwise would have been taken to the landfill. Together, we are creating a successful program that is saving landfill space, increasing recycling, reducing litter and making central Iowa a better place to live.

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