THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300565
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER AND MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 71 lines
Curbside recycling - an act of environmental stewardship to many, a confusing hassle to others - is waning in South Hampton Roads.
Since last summer, participation has fallen by more than 10 percent, one of the biggest declines since the Southeastern Public Service Authority started saving old newspapers, bottles and cans in 1989, according to SPSA statistics.
To reverse this trend, SPSA joined hands Thursday with the city of Chesapeake to begin a promotional campaign to encourage more homeowners to fill up their little blue recycling bins again.
The effort had its kick-off with a news conference at Chesapeake City Hall on Thursday. Coupons also were placed in the local newspaper, for homeowners to redeem for a second recycling bin.
About 42 percent of SPSA's residential customers in Chesapeake now take part in curbside recycling. Officials hope that public awareness and education can push that rate to 52 percent by December.
``Frankly, I don't think it's going to be difficult to get people to participate more,'' said G. Conoly Phillips, a Norfolk city councilman and vice chairman of SPSA's board of directors.
Chesapeake's participation rate has gone up and down over the years, at one point hitting 57 percent, statistics show. This roller-coaster pattern can be seen in the other localities served by SPSA, which are Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Franklin, and Isle of Wight and Southampton counties.
Virginia Beach, once SPSA's biggest recycling customer, withdrew from the curbside program July 1, citing opposition to a new monthly collection fee and longstanding service complaints.
With Virginia Beach's departure, Chesapeake has the largest number of homes recycling in the region, said David Horne, SPSA's recycling coordinator.
The bad blood and infighting stirred by the Virginia Beach flap is one reason for the decline, said Joe Thomas, SPSA's recycling director. ``I think people kind of turned off a little,'' he said.
The program itself also has changed recently, creating some confusion, other officials explained. Beginning last spring, for example, SPSA started gathering recyclable goods from blue bins every other week; until then, the agency had collected every week.
Also last year, SPSA expanded its recycling routes to more than 300,000 homes. Officials speculated that perhaps some of these new customers still are getting accustomed to putting out their bin on a biweekly basis.
``We heard a lot of grumblings from people, stuff like, `We can't keep track of when they pick up' and `I'm not going to keep these old cans and things lying around the house for two weeks,' '' said John Deuel, a recycling coordinator for the city of Norfolk. ``I think people didn't deal with the changes real well - or simply didn't know about them.''
Deuel said Norfolk's participation rate has fallen to about 33 percent since SPSA announced program changes last March. Before then, the rate was about 50 percent, he added.
Norfolk is studying the idea of offering cash incentives to civic leagues that increase their community's recycling rates, Deuel said. The city also will publish pick-up schedules in The Virginian-Pilot.
``We'd like to get back to about 50 percent,'' Deuel said. ``I think we just need to get the word out.''
Durwood S. Curling, SPSA's executive director, said SPSA is placing 45 percent of its waste in landfills. The other 55 percent is recycled in one way or another, he said, adding that SPSA hopes to reduce its landfilled portion to 25 percent in coming years. ILLUSTRATION: DRIVE TO RECYCLE
About 42 percent of SPSA's residential customers in Chesapeake
take part in curbside recycling.
Officials hope that public awareness and education can push that
rate to 52 percent by December.
KEYWORDS: SPSA SOUTHEASTERN PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY
RECYCLING by CNB