Last year The Times was getting over $160 per ton for old newspapers from a recycling company. This month and for the past several months we are lucky to get $40 per ton. That is a big revenue swing. The recession is to blame. When production was high, recycling prices were high. Normally this is an economic indicator that requires action. Should this include the recycling business? If the price were to drop to zero dollars, will The Times throw our waste paper in the trash to be taken to the landfill? No and I hope you won’t either.
Recycling can be confusing. Recycling can be time consuming. Recycling is worth every minute of learning and doing.
I know here in Valdosta many residents get upset when they see their curbside recycling bin dumped into what looks like a “trash” truck. I had the same reaction at first. Before moving to Valdosta I was familiar with having three bins at my house for curbside pickup. Recyclables were placed in their appropriate bin.
The City of Valdosta uses the “single-stream” method. All of the collectibles - aluminum, plastic or paper – are now kept together. When the neighborhood collections are made, the trucks return to the recycling area where the product is stored until the contracted recycle company transports it to Gainesville, Fla. Here all of the material is dumped on to large conveyors in a ‘single-stream.’ Technology takes over here and the waste is scanned and sorted into appropriate bins for paper, aluminum, glass, etc. This method saves us, the consumer, our time in keeping everything separate. In turn the City saves thousands of dollars in labor costs in not having to pick the product up that way or having to keep it separate. Another plus is the City can now contract with one company as opposed to several to buy one or more of the recyclable products.
In the Business Week magazine I read recently, Waste Management, the nation’s largest trash hauler, set a goal in 2007 to triple its recyclables to 20 million tons a year by 2020. “But now the company says its recycling division is headed for a $98 million loss this year,” Christopher Palmeri, the article’s author wrote.
Many municipalities have had contracts with companies like WM using them as a positive revenue source. Denver, Colo. received $1.2 million from them last year based on a 2005 contract. This business model is ending. Just as our own newspaper waste is no longer a good source of extra revenue, the city and county governments around the country are also being confronted with this reality. The Business Week article reported that no one has dropped their recycling programs but the fear exists that some will.
Waste Management is not giving up. They are investing $16 million in a “state-of-the-art ‘single-stream’ sorting facility … that uses optical scanners, blasts of air, and magnets to separate recyclables.” A facility like this can sort “five times more volume at lower costs” than when kept separated. They want to build 12 more plants in the next five years above their current 33, according to the article.
This recession has caused all of us to think the new color Green. Many use this as a subject of puff talk, not much substance. Recycling is ‘green’ and recycling is not puff. Recycling programs have substance and they make environmental and financial sense for all us.
Don’t give up.
What We Think
Recycle! Don’t give up on it
- What We Think
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Elections: Creating a two-party region?
Twenty years ago, most area elections were decided during the primaries. Then, almost every candidate qualified as a Democrat. While there may be plenty of challengers on the ballot, many seats were decided in July or a few weeks later during the primary run-off.
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Thumbs up, thumbs down
THUMBS UP: To South Georgians making fine impressions on television singing competitions. Phillip Phillips of Leesburg won “American Idol” this week. Meanwhile, Lowndes High School graduate Stacia Watkins participated in the new ABC show “Duets.” Well done!
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Farewell to the vanishing ace
Donald S. “Bush” Bryan was not only a rare individual. He was part of a vanishing breed.
An Adel resident for the past 30 years, Bryan was a World War II flying ace. Not just an ace but a double ace. A pilot must down five enemy aircraft to become an ace; Bryan downed 13.3 enemy planes in Europe. The fractions represent planes downed with other pilots. -
A widespread mosquito alert
In announcing the discovery of a mosquito carrying the West Nile Virus strain, city and health officials did not include the specific location of the discovery.
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Of Guantanamo Bay and a Founding Father
Some readers may wonder how a Valdosta High School graduate could bring himself as an attorney to represent a Guantanamo Bay prisoner charged in connection to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Congratulations, VSU Softball!
This weekend, Valdosta State University Blazers Softball became the latest team to add to Valdosta’s TitleTown legacy.
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School’s out so watch out!
Summer is a time of rest, vacations and trips. It is a time when school is out, when people take time off from work, when people may stay out a little later. It is a time of swimming, trying new things, and seeking adventure.
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Qualifiers are next leaders
While the national media focuses attention on the presidential election, it should be remembered that we will also choose our local leaders this year.
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Thumbs up
THUMBS UP: To the 2011-12 arts season. Theatre Guild Valdosta’s rollicking comedy, “Caught in the Net,” officially brings to a close a magnificent schedule of shows ranging from theatre to opera to concerts to art exhibits and more from a variety of area venues. Theatre Guild will also open the 2012-13 season this summer with the musical “Into the Woods.” Until then, arts lovers can soon enjoy a new series of exhibits from the year-round Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts and three musicals starting in two weeks from Peach State Summer Theatre.
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Events that get things done
Finding something that repeatedly attracts the public is difficult enough, but finding an event that accomplishes that feat while also promoting your organization and helping others … well, in many places, that’s a rarity.
Not so for the Valdosta area. - More What We Think Headlines
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Elections: Creating a two-party region?
