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Las Cruces Could Have Curbside Recycling by End of 2010

NM Solid Waste Diversion Way Below National Average

By Steve Klinger

Las Cruces could have curbside recycling in place by the end of 2010, according to the director of the South Central Solid Waste Authority.

Patrick Peck said at the May monthly meeting of SCRaP (South Central Recycling Partnership) that the possibility of room in the budget for a curbside program in the next 18 months is “very real” and that “trash may help pay for it.” He cautioned, however, that a multi-step process would need to be completed and a determining factor would be cost figures from companies that would provide the services.

SCSWA chair, City Councilor Miguel Silva, has asked Peck to issue a Request for Proposal to be posted later this year for recycling processing and possible curbside collection. Both the Las Cruces City Council and the Doña Ana County Commission are supporting recycling and have permitted SCSWA to get involved in recycling operations, pending finalization of contracts that would include land in the county as well as within city limits.

“It’s not a done deal,” Peck told the group, but he expressed optimism that $500,000-700,000 may be available, including matching funds to get a single-stream curbside program off the ground, perhaps with bi-weekly pickup. Peck said the authority’s trash processing revenues could mean the budget might support a launch without the need to raise sanitation rates.

A startup program would involve about 30,000 containers at a cost of $50 each, but Peck said participation would be optional. “I have no interest in mandating curbside at everybody’s home.” He said 12,000-15,000 participants would be an attainable target.

The New Mexico Environment Department is encouraging curbside collection of recyclables, as it provides the most convenient method and brings greater participation by residents than systems such as recycling bins which the city currently uses. The big negative has been added cost, and the prospect of increasing sanitation bills to pay for curbside recycling was cited as the reason the city backed away from starting a program several years ago. Residents who examined the details of two city pilot programs, however, said the studies were flawed and showed inflated costs because of too-frequent mandatory collection.

The state is calling for a diversion of 33 percent of solid waste from New Mexico landfills by 2012, which is in keeping with the national recycling rate of 32.5 percent, according to a 2006 EPA study. New Mexico was at a dismal 11 percent rate as of 2007, NMED reported.

The SCRaP group reviewed its participation in the April Earth Day observation at Young Park, sponsored by the OASIS club at New Mexico State University. Suzanne Michaels, who handles public relations for SCRaP, said organizers told her up to 3,000 people attended the event, a tenfold increase from last year. Michaels said she is encouraged by participation at events such as Earth Day, as well as SCRaP’s work with local Boy Scouts and school conservation projects. “Little bits and pieces of the puzzle are coming together in building support for recycling in Las Cruces,” she told the group.

The next big promotion will be National Recycling Day on Nov. 15, and the group agreed to invite UNICOR, a self-sustaining recycler of electronic wastes that is part of Federal Prison Industries, to make a presentation at a future meeting. With regional facilities, including one in Tucson, UNICOR collects and processes e-waste using prison labor. Inmates get paid for separating recyclable components and “demanufacturing” computers, televisions and other electronic equipment.

Discussion at the meeting showed support for other initiatives in connection with National Recycling Day. The e-waste drive might be combined with neighborhood challenges, collection of plastic shopping bags and distribution of reusable cloth shopping bags to educate residents and encourage sustainable practices.

The cities of Austin and San Francisco, and nations including Ireland and China have banned plastic shopping bags, but Peck counseled SCRaP to assume an advisory position against the bags, stopping short of calling for their elimination, because he said the top priority needs to go to launching a curbside program.

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