All of the little streams of recycling in Ann Arbor are about to be combined into one big river, and that river is expected to grow exponentially.
The City Council has approved switching from the traditional sorting method of recycling (papper, plastic, etc.) to what is called single-stream, which allows homes to throw all of their recycling into one container. The material is then sorted out at the recycling plant, making the process more user-friendly. Among the other cities that use single-stream recycling are Austin, Texas and Baltimore, MD.
"We expect to basically double recycling from single-family homes with the program," says Tom McMurtrie, recycling coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor. "There will be a number of materials added and new incentives.
Currently, Ann Arborites recycle about 50 percent of their waste. The goal is to hit 70 percent by 2012. Helping make that possible is adding a number of materials to be recycled, such as all plastics except No. 3.
The city will invest $3.5 million into upgrades at its recycling facility to accommodate this transition. The staff levels would stay the same with machines handling the extra sorting. The switch would also require new recycling containers, costing $1.3 million. Gone will be the green and brown bins. Replacing them will be one large container for all recycling.
Each of these containers will come with a bar code as part of the RecycleBank system, which rewards recyclers with coupons and prizes in proportion to how much they recycle. This system has helped significantly increase recycling efforts in both Rochester Hills and Westland.
Source: Tom McMurtrie, recycling coordinator for the city of Ann Arbor
Writer: Jon Zemke
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