THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 4, 1996 TAG: 9605050001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By JAMES K. SPORE
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Virginia Beach has led the region in its commitment to recycling. We were the first to develop a recycling program with our drop-off centers in 1988. We exceeded the goal of the state mandate before it was enacted, and last year we led the region with a 58 percent recycling rate, more than twice the state mandate. We have processed more than 208,000 tons of recycled materials, avoiding disposal costs of $3.6 million to the taxpayers of Virginia Beach.
We are again taking the lead by looking for an efficient and comprehensive curbside recycling program that makes the best use of our taxpayers' money. By refusing the $1.3 million recycling fee proposed by the Southeastern Public Service Authority, we are moving forward, not backward (``A step backward,'' editorial, May 1) to ensure the long-term effectiveness of a curbside program.
We have supported SPSA's efforts to pursue a curbside program, and we have shared our concerns about inefficient methods being used. It is a system that is capital and labor intensive and does not collect many commonly used recyclables, such as colored-glass bottles. During its routes, SPSA drives past more than 48,000 households that do not place any recyclables on the street for curbside collection. It is not economically feasible to provide service and charge only those residents who desire to use the curbside service.
Meanwhile, we have continued to provide drop-off recycling centers throughout the city. These centers generated 4,500 tons of recycling materials during the past year; 50 percent of that has been collected by SPSA collecting house to house throughout the city. Obviously, the cost of collecting these recyclables is much lower than the current curbside service - 85 percent lower.
The city plans to improve and expand our drop-off recycling centers while we continue to study a more cost-efficient system for curbside recycling. We are evaluating an automated system that is very similar to the efficient waste-collection system that is now saving the taxpayers of Virginia Beach millions of dollars each year. This system is seen as one of the most efficient in the country and serves as a model for other cities.
The city pays SPSA approximately $8 million a year for an integrated waste-management system that includes disposing of more than 175,000 tons of waste, providing household-hazardous-waste disposal sites, operating a mulching and composting operation and providing the curbside recycling program. SPSA has no authority to impose this recycling fee, which equates to another tax for Beach citizens. The proposed recycling fee has been combined with a lower tipping fee that does not affect Virginia Beach. This new fee is not related to the actual cost of the recycling program, and, in effect, provides additional revenue to SPSA while lowering the cost of operations to other cities.
The $1.3 million fee that SPSA would charge the city is more than the actual cost of curbside service in Virginia Beach. The city joins Isle of Wight County and the city of Suffolk in opposing this fee, which would set a precedent for future years, potentially obligating the city to pay even higher fees.
Although we want a first-class recycling program, it must be efficient and it must be significantly more cost-effective than the current program. To contribute more than a million dollars each year toward the current system would be a disservice to our taxpayers. We believe recycling can be achieved in a way that is convenient, economical and environmentally sound. MEMO: James Spore is city manager of Virginia Beach. by CNB