Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Recycling seemed like second nature. My family always had the garbage bin for trash and one for recycling. I found this article interesting and surprising that recycling in apartment complexes has not been seriously addressed or enforced. "In theory, the apartment association agrees that recycling is good,"

http://www.mysanantonio.com/livinggreensa/apartments_might_have_to_recycle_103411689.html

Apartments might have to recycle

By Josh Baugh - Express-News

Web Posted: 09/21/2010 12:00 CDT

San Antonio apartment dwellers generate as much as 300 million pounds of solid waste annually, according to city figures, more than half of which could be recycled — but isn't.

That means area landfills take in about 150 million pounds of garbage from apartments — 47 times the weight of the Fairmount Hotel, a three-story structure that was moved through downtown in 1985.

But local leaders want to begin redirecting that waste to recycling centers by next year. The City Council is expected to discuss a new ordinance this month that would require most apartment complexes to collect recycling. It's not currently required for multifamily residences or businesses.

The council could act on the proposed ordinance as early as next month.

That timeline could be too aggressive for the San Antonio Apartment Association, the main stakeholder working with the city on developing an ordinance.

“We're not even remotely close to being able to sign off on a program or a plan that we can move forward with,” Executive Director Rachelle Landry said.

David McCary, director of the city's solid waste management department, said the initiative is part of the council's directive to substantially reduce waste. The council has adopted a goal of reaching a 60 percent recycling rate by 2020. Right now, 18 percent of residential waste is recycled.

McCary is optimistic about working with the association and ensuring that the ordinance is practical for its members.

For Mayor Julián Castro, incorporating the city's 140,000 apartment units in the effort is vital.

“I don't think we can reach our goal of 60 percent without getting apartment complexes on board,” he said. “The numbers just don't add up if we don't do that.”

The solid waste department collects garbage and recycling from the 340,000 single-family homes in San Antonio. Everyone else, including multifamily complexes and businesses, contracts with private haulers to take away their garbage. That's why the council would have to adopt an ordinance that makes recycling mandatory.

In theory, the apartment association agrees that recycling is good.

“In general, we're very interested and committed to exploring recycling opportunities,” Landry said.

But apartment complexes face “an enormous implementation issue,” she added. There are potential problems with locating recycling receptacles onsite, bearing added costs and educating residents about how to properly recycle. Landry also said she's concerned that property managers could be forced to police recycling efforts.

“We're not interested in being the waste police,” she said.

If residents use the recycling bins for garbage, the cost of hauling off contaminated loads could skyrocket, Landry said.

McCary and Landry both said the draft ordinance would phase in complexes based on their number of units. The largest properties would have to submit a recycling plan to the city by Jan. 1, and McCary estimates that recycling would begin by April 1, which would also be the deadline for medium-sized properties to submit their plans. Small complexes would have to submit their recycling plans later in 2011.

Extending recycling to multifamily residences is only part of the larger equation, and it'll take broadening efforts to reach the city's ultimate goals. Also in 2011, McCary's department will begin coordinating with businesses to start a recycling program with them.

Also, beginning in January, the city and some of the area's largest retailers will roll out a voluntary pilot program for recycling plastic bags.

The city has budgeted $500,000 for fiscal year 2011 to fund an education campaign, McCary said, which will focus on both the multifamily recycling efforts and the single-use plastic bag program.

Plastic grocery bags are recyclable but not through the city's single-stream recycling program because they get caught in the sorting machines, McCary said.

The solid waste department has teamed with H-E-B, Walmart, Target, Walgreens and J.C. Penney to run an 18-month pilot program that could increase the rate of recycling for single-use bags and the number of reusable bags. At the same time, the program could reduce the number of plastic bags distributed and the litter associated with them.

The stores will have recycling kiosks, McCary said, and clerks will help with the campaign by offering reusable bags over single-use plastic bags.

The program will attempt to track plastic bag usage and litter to determine whether the voluntary recycling program is effective.

City Council members have been briefed on various methods that could be employed, from taxing the bags to banning them altogether. But McCary said “our thought was to begin with education before enforcement.”