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September 8, 2008
Dear Editor:
I have been canvassing our neighborhoods,
and one issue is clear: Haverhill citizens want to expand curbside
recycling. They understand both the global and local environmental
needs and see long term financial benefits for our City. I propose
that Haverhill pilot single-stream recycling, benchmark the benefit/cost
ratio, and then decide on full implementation.
Haverhill can undertake a pilot
program similar to one recently completed in Boston. That curbside
recycling program had promising results. Boston's pilot program
in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, for example, increased recycling
by 53 percent.
With the challenges our world
faces with global warming, the stakes are high. Government bodies
are beginning to move into action. Witness California's Global
Warming Act of 2006, and our own Global Warming Act recently
passed by the Massachusetts state legislature. Many Haverhill
citizens have already begun to make the changes in their personal
lives to conserve energy: they are insulating homes, buying hybrid
vehicles, and using CFL light bulbs. Some citizens even opt to
pay a little more every month to get their electricity from renewable
sources, through National Grid's "Green Up" Program.
As many of you know, we have
gotten by for years with curbside recycling of paper only because
of the special deal the city struck with Covanta, reducing our
cost of incinerating trash. We therefore have never had that
intrinsic motivation many communities have to reduce the cost
of trash incineration by reducing the total amount of trash collected
by means of recycling.
However, we now have more important
reasons for reducing the amount of trash incinerated: the less
trash burned, the fewer emissions we release into the atmosphere.
In the first decade of the 21st century, knowing what we know,
it quite simply is the right-and moral-thing to do.
So if we agree that Haverhill
must take advantage of this moment of transition, then what options
do we have?
Team Haverhill, in their presentation
this past July, made a very strong argument in favor of single-stream
recycling. Single-stream refers to a single collection bin for
all curbside recyclables (paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, etc.).
So on trash/recycling day, Haverhill citizens would have two
bins at the curbside: one for trash and one for all recyclables.
Dual-stream, on the other hand, requires separation of the paper
from the other recyclables, so that on trash/recycling day you
would have three bins: one for trash, one for paper/cardboard,
and one for all other recyclables. There are advantages and disadvantages
to each: one reduces collection costs but doesn't yield as much
return (single-stream), whereas the other has larger collection
costs but yields higher returns.
The critical distinction that
Team Haverhill made is in overall participation. Fewer people
participate in dual-stream recycling programs because doing so
requires more effort. And in order for the city to break even,
we need a certain level of participation. The temptation will
be to choose dual-stream if the responses to the City's request-for-proposals
show modestly higher returns for dual-stream in the near-term,
but doing so might not bring about the level of participation
we need to break even and earn money for the city over the long-term.
Further, paper prices have been rising steadily in the last year,
and many believe that this high price cannot be sustained. When
China finds that they have sufficient paper inventory for the
near term, demand will fall and our paper revenue will drop.
Finally, higher recycling rates throughout the Valley and the
Commonwealth would reduce the need for increased landfill and
incineration capacity.
This is no time to protect the
perceived bottom line. It is time to move forward, and the way
forward points to a pilot for single-stream recycling. As Haverhill
positions itself as a progressive community that is part of a
revitalized Merrimack Valley in its attempt to attract new and
innovative business, it will go far in attracting forward-thinking
residents who expect a community to be picking up all recyclable
items at the curb.
John Michitson
119 Kenoza Street
Haverhill, MA
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