I post a lot about development and water issues. And I read and pay attention to a lot of other posts on social media about these issues too. But here’s something I haven’t posted about or even thought about before.
I got an email last week from someone suggesting that Ivins residents should be able to opt out of the “blue can” recycling program any time we want and then not be charged for the blue can program. There was an initial opt-out period, but that’s long gone.
He suggested this because he believed the program was not actually recycling. So, if it’s just treated like garbage, we shouldn’t have to pay extra every month for fictitious recycling.
I didn’t know what was happening with recycling in the county, so I asked Cheyne McDonald. He’s our city’s representative on the Washington County Solid Waste (WCSW) Board and the board’s Chair. Cheyne told me that the collection contract they have requires payment for all properties that didn’t opt out of the program initially. They get paid even if you don’t put out your can for collection. That’s why there isn’t a continual option to opt out. Yes, it would be nice if the contract was written differently, but that’s what we have.
Cheyne also said that all the blue can collections are processed for recycling. The material is not dumped in our landfill. It’s loaded onto semi-trailers and shipped to a recycling plant in Las Vegas where it is all hand-sorted. Then, as long as it is recyclable material, it is sold. This used to be done locally but the company that did it went out of business.
Then Cheyne told me three more things that, added up, suggest that whether you believe recycling works and is good for the planet, and even though it’s probably not immediately cost effective, it is good for our pocketbook in the long term.
First, the remaining useful life of our landfill has fallen significantly in the past few years. That’s due to a combination of population growth and a surge of online ordering for everything under the sun. WCSW can’t pinpoint when the landfill will be full because the amount of garbage arriving there continually varies. But 70 years seems like a reasonable estimate. Not long ago the estimate was well over 100 years.
Second, when it’s full we’ll need a new landfill, which will be farther away, and we’ll still have to “manage” the existing one for 50 additional years. So, the combination of: (a) paying for a new landfill, (b) paying more to ship garbage farther, and (c) paying more to manage two landfills will add to a lot to our monthly bills.
Third, Cheyne noted that if you look at how many blue cans are put out for pickup, it appears a lot of households are not using them. Some may simply have little recyclable material and put them out infrequently. But he thinks a lot are just not using them, so recyclables end up in the garbage. Then they end up in our landfill, shortening the landfill’s remaining useful life. He has tried to get better data from WCSW, but they don’t track actual use.
So, paying for the blue can recycling program combined with actually using the blue cans, seems like a cost-effective way to prolong the life of our landfill. Granted, a new landfill is a long way off, so the higher costs won’t impact most of us directly. But I believe we have a responsibility to do what we can for future generations.