Recycler signs first big apartment contract in Las Vegas

By Steve Green

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Republic Services Inc., the main trash hauler in Southern Nevada, said Tuesday it’s stepping up recycling operations at Las Vegas-area apartment complexes and has signed its first large-scale apartment management company as a client.

Since August, Camden Property Trust has adopted the new recycling program with 22 of its 29 Camden and Oasis properties participating. The 22 properties consist of 6,864 units that are typically 94 percent occupied. The communities participating are where bins could be accommodated without reducing parking.

The agreement with Houston-based Camden Property Trust may help Republic overcome resistance from other local apartment operators, some of whom say they support recycling but don’t want to pay Republic for its recycling services.

Republic says recycling services cost complexes less than $1 per tenant per month — in some cases a few hundred dollars or less. The costs are on top of fees complexes already pay for regular trash pickup.

Evergreen Recycling, the Republic subsidiary company handling recycling, said the program is “not only cost effective, but is convenient for property managers to implement and tenants to participate.”

The recycling program at Camden has been widely accepted by everyone from renters to staff members and fully integrated in daily operations and community lifestyles, Republic and Evergreen said.

“Camden is excited to offer our residents another way to ‘go green’ and be environmentally conscious,” said Elaine Withrow, division vice president for Camden Property Trust.

A Camden spokeswoman said the costs for the recycling program are being passed on to residents in the participating communities.

"Residents are billed for water, sewer, and trash as part of their rent agreement and the recycling program is part of the trash fee. The minimal increase will vary from community to community based on the property’s size. The program has been well received by residents and they are actively using the recycle bins," said Karen Mordue, Camden regional marketing director.

The new recycling program includes mail-room and office bins for recyclables such as junk mail, magazines, newspapers, catalogs and office paper. Large commingled recycling bins are placed at the properties to promote tenant recycling for materials such as paper, cardboard, aluminum cans and plastic bottles.

Evergreen said that with the new equipment it’s optimistic that “as a community we can make significant impacts in Southern Nevada’s current 19 percent recycling rate, of which the national recycling average is 35 percent.”

“We have been eager to add this service offering to our profile of comprehensive recycling services. We remain committed to our mission and promise to the community to continuously seek opportunities to expand recycling programs and capabilities to serve the public and our environment,” said Joe Burkel, area president of Republic Services of

Southern Nevada.

Burkel and others at Republic and Evergreen, however, recognize they have a sales job to do.

The Nevada State Apartment Association, representing owners of nearly 50,000 apartment units, fully supports recycling, but some member companies are strongly resisting having to pay anything to Republic or any other recycling company for recycling services, Executive Director Michael Fazio said Tuesday.

That’s partly because of the costs involved in some cases of having to reconfigure properties to accommodate the recycling bins and equipment. The seemingly minimal recycling fees also are a problem for complexes struggling to maintain rental rates and occupancy levels at profitable levels.

There’s also a belief by some that recyclers shouldn’t be paid because they are going to be profiting by selling the recyclables collected at apartment complexes, Fazio said.

Fazio said the association may lobby the Clark County Commission and the Nevada Legislature to come up with something more favorable to apartment operators than what Republic and other recyclers are offering.

“It’s a big deal in this state — we’ve been behind the eight ball when it

comes to recycling,” Fazio said. “We’re waiting for something more economically feasible.”

But Burkel, at Republic, said in an interview that the company will press forward with educating apartment management companies and selling to them.

Burkel said that with the tremendous investment that’s being made in recycling equipment, trucks and Republic’s local recycling plant, recycling at apartment complexes only makes sense for Republic if it’s paid for the service.

The minimal fees to apartment complexes, Republic said, include extensive educational efforts to show tenants how to use the new recycling equipment and to encourage them to do so.

“What we are offering is a lot of service at a favorable price,” Burkel said.

Bob Coyle, a vice president at Republic, discussed the marketing program in an interview last month with In Business Las Vegas, a sister publication to the Las Vegas Sun.

“We have our customer service representatives out talking with all of them. You know, they’re all challenged, too, because their vacancies are up and their rents are down and there is an expense to the apartment recycling program. It’s minimal — $125 a month (in some cases) for the special mailroom carts as well as the large commercial containers,” Coyle said.

“But just like everybody else in the recession, they’re trying to watch their pennies, nickels and dimes. But the fact that Camden stepped up to the plate and became the first one, we think that will allow us to penetrate more of that market.”