Recycling could cost residents one trash pickup

Friday, Aug. 17, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

Clark County is to consider a sweeping new plan to boost recycling across the Las Vegas Valley, including testing a proposal to cut back regular trash pickups to once a week.

That schedule is identical to one that drew a storm of protest last summer from homeowners who want trash picked up twice weekly, as it is now.

The new plan, which goes to the County Commission on Tuesday, also recommends experimenting with two other garbage and recyclable collection schedules. And it advocates test programs at apartment complexes, construction sites, offices and government facilities. Recycling has been spotty, if it existed at all, at those locales.

The recommendations come one year after commissioners balked at the Southern Nevada Recycling Advisory Committee's proposal to increase recycling pickups at the expense of regular trash pickups.

Unhappy opponents worried about the stench from garbage rotting in desert temperatures.

Others argued that the earlier plan would give a windfall profit to Republic Services, a company that gives large campaign contributions to local officials and has received unusually long monopoly contract extensions from Clark County and Las Vegas.

Ultimately, commissioners spiked the plan and told the advisory committee to look at other ways to increase recycling.

The new plan advocates three pilot programs for curb side residential recycling. The idea is to test each one for effectiveness, cost and household satisfaction.

An assumption in all three is that Republic would convert recycling containers from the current three-bin system to one with a single container. Residents now sort recyclables into three types and carry three small containers to the curb.

The new system would use a single large, wheeled container for all recyclables, which would be sorted at collection centers.

Households would use a similar container for garbage. Converting to the new containers would let Republic replace its fleet of garbage and recycling trucks with vehicles that use mechanical arms to empty containers . The work is now done by hand.

Here are the three schedules recommended for test runs:

The pilot programs would probably last a year. At the end, commissioners would decide which, if any, to put in place.

Republic estimated last year that buying new containers for the entire valley would cost $40 million and the new trucks would cost $45 million.

The company would save money over time because the new trucks would require just one worker who drives and operates the mechanical arm. The current rear-loading trucks require a driver and a pitcher to empty trash cans.

Mechanical-arm trucks also cut down on injuries, reducing Republic's worker s compensation costs.

The recycling committee's plan also recommends pilot programs at apartment and commercial buildings, schools and government offices.

For apartment complexes, it calls for experimenting by placing recycling containers in mail rooms. Recyclables also could be dropped in containers in supermarket parking lots.

The committee recommended a target recycling rate of 25 percent for construction waste, although it advocates no enforcement mechanism. The proposal also suggests experimenting with using recycled glass in asphalt mixes.

Although the new plan is much broader than last year's, committee members acknowledge that many of the suggestions would rely heavily on decisions by private industry. Committee members include representatives of state and local governments, the gaming industry and recycling companies.

Local elected officials would be expected to work with supermarkets, asphalt producers, construction companies and property managers to arrange for the stepped - up effort. Maybe that's why the advisory committee is calling the proposal "Project GreenWorks: Opportunity for Leadership."