5 ways Ann Arbor's single-stream recycling will impact residents

The hope is the changes will build more efficiencies into Ann Arbor’s current recycling system, allow the city to sell more recycled materials and double the rate that waste is currently diverted from landfills. That would save the city money on tipping fees and reduce the city’s impact on the environment.

Gina Van Riper of the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority sorts plastic bottles in this file photo.

File photo

Last week, Tom McMurtrie, Ann Arbor's environmental systems analyst, told AnnArbor.com the funding for the upgrades would come from the city's solid wast fund. The city is expecting a payback from the investment within seven years.

Ann Arbor’s annual diversion of trash to recycling rate is 400 pounds per household per year. The city estimates it could follow in the footsteps of other cities that divert 800 pounds to 1,000 pounds per household per year because of extra convenience and incentives.

The upgrades are due to be completed by mid-2010. Here’s how it could impact you:

1. 8-week switchover. The proposed equipment upgrades — which include technology for sorting and increased areas to store more recycled materials — will take about eight weeks to complete, officials have said.

Recyclables will still be collected during the switchover, but will be transferred to a facility outside Ann Arbor for processing, McMurtrie said.

2. New carts. Part of the catalyst for making the change now was it's far past time to replace aging recycling carts around Ann Arbor, officials said.

Every resident and business should eventually get a container next year. They will be notified of the sizes of recycling carts that will be available at no charge.

Residents will be able to recycle those old recycling containers. McMurtrie joked they might even make good containers for old record albums.

3. No more sorting. It doesn’t mean recycled materials won’t need to be sorted out of trash - they still will. But residents will be able to put all of their recyclables of the paper and plastic directly into a single container.

Beyond resident convenience, the benefit includes more efficient truck pick-up of recyclables since the trucks will be able to pick up more materials in a single trip rather than unused space caused by having two separate compartments that may end up returning to the MRF without a full load, officials have said.

4. More recyclables allowed. All of the changes go back to the retrofit of Ann Arbor’s MRF to allow easier sorting and more storage or recycled materials.

During the sorting process, this will allow materials that traditionally couldn’t be accepted for processing and material resale to be collected and stored, including:

• Plastic #1: Commonly used to make 2-liter soda bottles, cooking oil bottles and peanut butter jars.
• Plastic # 2: Commonly used to make detergent bottles and milk jugs.
• Plastic #4: Commonly used to make dry cleaning bags, produce bags, trashcan liners and food storage containers.
• Plastic #5: Commonly used to make bottle caps, drinking straws.
• Plastic #6: Commonly used to make packaging pellet, cups, plastic tableware, meat trays, “clam-shell” to-go containers (plastic, not Styrofoam).
• Plastic #7: Commonly used to make food containers (Tupperware).
• Bulky plastic HDPE #2: Items like buckets, crates, trays, outdoor furniture and some toys will be accepted.

The city will still be unable to accept PVC, Styrofoam or plastic bags due to problems they can cause at the recycling center.

5. Potential incentives. If a proposal to partner with a business called RecycleBank is passed by the council in December, it could set up a system to offer incentives to those who recycle. Each household’s cart would have a radio frequency identification, or RFID, chip to link their recycling to reward points.

Those points can be redeemed for rewards at retail partners by logging onto a RecycleBank account. Systems could be set up to share points when a cart is used in multiple family dwellings, representatives from RecycleBank told the council during a work session in October.

Tina Reed covers health and the environment for AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at tinareed@annarbor.com, call her at 734-623-2535 or find her on Twitter @TreedinAA.