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A Word About Recycling with Ollie Maier

Sunday, December 16, 2018

We’ve touched on food waste from time to time, especially during this time of year when there seems to be more of it – some people prepare too much so no one goes hungry, while others may find their eyes bigger than their stomachs when filling their plates.

One answer to this problem is composting. A recent Resource Recycling newsletter referenced a survey of 185 full-scale U.S. food scraps processing facilities that provides insights into processing infrastructure for food and compostable paper and plastic packaging.

Of the 95 facilities that responded, 75 percent take all types of food scraps, including pre- and post-consumer material, a little over 63 percent accept certified compostable paper products, and nearly 56 percent take certified compostable bioplastics. A majority – 63 percent – were under commercial ownership, with the others publicly owned. It’s wonderful to know there are that many facilities taking food scraps.

Mary and I also found another interesting article on recycling efforts in St. Louis, Missouri. It went all-in on outreach and education efforts and was pleased to find local residents, responded with enthusiasm for the city’s diversion initiatives.

Launched in 2011, the St. Louis program grew from collecting 400 tons in January to 1,100 tons in December, with its recycling collection service serving about 140,000 households. Only about 20,000 households have individual roll carts with curbside service, with the remaining 120,000 “on a relatively unique shared-receptacle system that takes advantage of the city’s multitude of alleyways.”

“With the alley, a dumpster can service four to six homes on average,” a city spokesperson said. “A lot of our residents really love the dumpsters. They love the convenience.”

The city also has about 60 drop-off recycling locations by various public buildings and other central locations.

Shortly after the initial rollout, the city tackled several areas for improvement. For example, it found more recycling education and outreach should have occurred in the beginning, so in 2015, an outreach team was formed to educate the public on how to properly recycle materials.

One team project was making a Waste Disposal Guide, with tips about how to have good recycling practices within a household. It includes six materials households should always try to recycle: paper, cardboard, plastic bottles/containers, glass bottles/jars, cartons, and metal cans.

Even if St. Louis’ program is only seven years old – relatively young compared to other large cities’ recycling programs, some dating back to the early 1990s – it doesn’t mean there’s a lack of interest among the city’s population.

As the spokesperson proudly stated concerning visits to 79 neighborhoods already, “One thing we found as we go to neighborhood meetings is that everyone is excited by recycling.” He feels that through these meetings, they learn new strategies to explore and what the residents need to better recycle.

One of St. Louis’ goals is to increase the diversion rate to 30 percent by 2030 – double the current level.

With the effort it’s putting into it, I feel they should easily meet or exceed that goal by then.

Till next week, do have an enjoyable and safe one, especially with all the joy of shopping for Christmas gifts,

--Ollie is a local citizen concerned with the environment and helping others. A retired Air Force fighter and instructor pilot, he is a graduate of Leadership San Marcos and received his degrees at Texas State University where he worked on staff before totally retiring. For questions or comments, he invites you to call him at 512-353-7432 or e-mail omaier@txstate.edu.

San Marcos Record

(512) 392-2458
P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666