Thursday, April 28, 2005 | 10:48 a.m.
Bob Coyle, Republic Services area president, talks about recycling on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," which airs at 5:30, 6:30, 8 and 10 p.m. today on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable 19.
The controversial plan that would increase recycling in Clark County at the expense of twice-weekly trash pickup grew out of pressure from county officials urging the garbage contractor to reduce the amount of trash making its way to landfills, county officials said Wednesday.
The county has long been under the gun from state officials to increase what county Manager Thom Reilly described as a "dismal" recycling rate and has requested contractor Republic Services step up its lagging recycling program, he said.
Bob Coyle, Republic's area president for Southern Nevada, confirmed last week that the firm planned to approach the Clark County Commission with a proposal to study a seemingly more convenient recycling program that would increase capacity for recycling but would reduce residential trash collection to once a week. Coyle has since backed away from the idea after harsh criticism from residents concerned about the reduction in garbage service.
The study would have included a pilot program looking at changes including replacing the three separate 12-gallon crates customers use to sort their recycleable material with a new, 95-gallon container. Those living in single-family homes would also receive at no cost a larger container for their trash.
That idea has not been removed entirely, although Coyle said he is reviewing other options.
"We're going to step back and look at all the options," Coyle said. "It will impact how we pick up the trash, too."
Clark County has long fallen short of a statewide goal set in 1991 to recycle 25 percent of its trash by 1996. By late last year, Nevada had barely broken the 10 percent mark compared with 30 percent nationwide.
By improving recycling efforts, the county figures there will be less trash going into the landfill.
Coyle's proposal was one of many ideas discussed to possibly raise this rate, Roma Haynes, who as the county's franchise service coordinator oversees Republic's contract, said.
"I think he (Coyle) was casting around for ideas," she said. "Being in the idea stage and being in the implementation stage are two different things."
Confronted on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" with an internal company document that outlines a strategy to start a recycling program, Coyle said he had gone out too far. The show, which airs on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channel 19, will be aired at 5:30, 6:30, 8 and 10 p.m. today.
In an interview with the Sun, Coyle said he wrote the document three to four months ago. The document, which he titled the "Implementation Plan," includes steps for developing the pilot program with the commission's approval and launching a public relations campaign describing the changes.
Haynes and Reilly said they had not seen the document or other written proposals from Coyle describing a possible pilot program, although the matter was mentioned in a meeting shortly after Coyle assumed his current position last year, Reilly said.
"I don't think there's a time that we've met that it (recycling) hasn't come up," Reilly said. "... I think the recycling here has been pretty dismal."
Coyle said he likely showed his outline to others within the company, although he said he could not remember how may people saw it. The unofficial "planning document" followed an organizational practice Coyle said he followed for years on countless other projects.
The document, which Coyle said is still stored on his computer, has not changed recently, although he said he would likely "add five or 10 or 15 more things" if he were to update it.
"This pretty much follows what I was taught in college," he said. "You sit down and you lay out all the facts and put together an implementation plan. This is classic Coyle. This is the way I do things."
Republic was the target of public outcry after an initial article published by the Sun on April 18 caused residents to contact the company and county officials with concerns about trash that would be left sitting in hot summer temperatures longer.
Commissioner Chip Maxfield, whose district includes northwest Las Vegas, said Wednesday that his office had fielded a number of calls and e-mails from residents concerned about the changes. Others, including Commissioner Tom Collins and Commission Chairman Rory Reid, said they had only heard a handful of complaints from their constituents.
Collins said many residents supported recycling in theory but would probably be less enthusiastic if it involved an increase in fees.
"Everybody feels that way until they have to pay for it," he said.
Commissioner Bruce Woodbury said the only complaint he received was from an employee at his law office who told him directly the changes were a "bad idea."
Woodbury said it was too early to tell whether he would support the proposed pilot program.
"I'd love to see a better recycling program but not at the expense of the basic garbage pickup system," he said. "I'm somewhat skeptical as to whether that's viable."
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