SORTING IT OUT While it’s getting easier to offer recycling programs, beware of a number of pitfalls. A big one: Every city recycles differently, leaving property managers without a single standard to follow.
“You could be a manager with seven properties, and all seven could have different items you’re allowed to recycle,” says Mike Ferris, president of Valet Waste, a Tampa, Fla.-based multifamily waste removal company. “Some counties only allow brown and blue glass; some will do commingled; some will only do paper and cardboard. So, it makes it difficult to set up standardization.”
When Lloyd Cobble, director of operations for Eagle Realty Group in Cincinnati, started researching potential recycling programs for the company’s properties, he recognized some additional impediments to moving forward.
“Space is a huge limitation,” Cobble says. “At the properties where we do have the space, residents would have to go to a different part of the property to drop [recyclables] off, or we could buy them recycling bins for $10 each which isn’t an expense we would really want to incur. So, we run the risk of the program really backfiring.”
Aesthetics is another issue to keep in mind. “In most cases waste management firms will provide you with one large container,” Cobble says. “You’ve got this big, almost what looks like a construction dumpster, on your property.”
And then there is the cost. Cobble found a waste removal company that charges a $4,125 start-up fee to deliver one container, plus an additional $145 per haul and $75 per month rental fee. So a lot of recyclables could cost a lot of money if you don’t find a company such as Conex, which offers a more manageable fee and commingling technology.
CALL TO ACTION Unfortunately, not all firms are as pro-active as Eagle Realty Group when it comes to setting up an effective recycling program. The missing incentive to recycle may happen in the form of a mandate. While most recycling programs are voluntary, some cities, such as Atlanta and Emeryville, Calif., require mandatory participation and provide residents with the basics to recycle.
“For example, the mandate for the city of Atlanta says that all multifamily housing properties six units and above must have recycling means on the property for their tenants,” says Sibbitt of Conex Recycling. “And then they try to specify what means need to be taken for paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum.”
Mandates may not be the only driver for property managers to implement recycling programs, Ferris notes.
“The biggest key is if cities, states, municipalities, and maybe the government started giving rebates or tax credits for those who do—that would completely change the whole complexion of recycling in the country,” Ferris says. “If that happens, everyone and their grandmother will jump on board.”
Lenora Jane Estes is a freelance writer living in Evanston, Ill.