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Camera to put focus on cardboard recycling
(by Joan Demirjian - June 30, 2010)
Camera to put focus on cardboard recycling
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
Local communities offering recycling services for residents are looking at options to serve them.
In Bainbridge, where cardboard recycling has increased over the years and at times has become a problem with overflowing bins and debris left on the ground, a new system is being tried.
Cameras will play a part in the efforts. With cameras, the police dispatch center can keep an eye on the recycling bins.
Bainbridge Road Superintendent Wally Rudyk told Bainbridge Trustees that Abitibi Bowater will handle the cardboard recycling efforts.
The company will provide six containers, instead of the three now at the site. The bins will be emptied twice a week.
In addition, the township will receive a portion of the money from the weight of cardboard, Mr. Rudyk said.
Currently, the township is paying $570 each month to empty the containers. Now, they will be picked up free, and the township will receive a 25 percent bonus annually, he said.
The new system represents a yearly savings of $7,200 for the township, he said.
If the new recycling system works out, it will benefit the township, Mr. Rudyk said. "I feel it's important as a department that if we can save residents money, how can we not look at what's best for residents."
Abitibi already is providing the recycling for the paper and magazines at the site off Haskins Road. The recycling area is next to the township road department.
There are six paper bins, and they will be reduced to four, with a twice-weekly pickup schedule.
The Geauga Trumbull Solid Waste Management District provides containers for aluminum, plastic and glass recycling.
In the new system, the pickup for the cardboard bins will be on Mondays and Fridays, leaving six containers emptied for the weekend, when they see a lot of use, Mr. Rudyk said.
The cardboard recycling bins have seen more and more use, requiring more frequent emptying, he said.
"I'm hoping they won't be as full," Mr. Rudyk said. It is when they are full that people often discard cardboard boxes on the ground around the containers.
They are hoping to eliminate some of that problem with the additional containers and pickup, he said.
"There will be no reason to leave cardboard on the ground," Mr. Rudyk said.
"This is on a trial basis and there is no contract," Mr. Rudyk said. "If it doesn't work out, we can look at the options."
Denise Piotrowski, of Abitibi, said they are hoping recyclers will be respectful of the process by flattening cardboard before placing it in the bins, and that they do not leave it on the ground.
"Once cardboard gets wet, it is more difficult to recycle," she said.
Bainbridge Trustee Jeff Markley said it is costing the township to empty the bins now. The service was geared for residents, however recyclers from outside the township are using it.
"We'll see how it plays out," he said of the new process. The bins have lids, rather than slots, which will probably invite people to throw boxes in without flattening them, Mr. Markley said. "I've said we have to be prepared to crush the cardboard."
The township also is working to have cameras at the center with "live feed" of the area, viewed at the Bainbridge police dispatch center, Mr. Markley said.
The cameras, expected to be in operation in the next few weeks, also will be at River Road and Settlers parks.
"Dispatch will be watching, and if something goes bad, a police patrol car can respond in minutes," Mr. Markley said.
Russell Township also has been considering what improvements could be made to its center.
However, Jack Gallagher, Russell maintenance supervisor, said, presently, the cardboard bins have slots only, and people have to flatten the cardboard.
The site has six containers, and they are emptied three times a week, he said. He will stay with that system for now. Without slots, "I'd have cardboard everywhere," he said. "I'm going to keep going the way I am. We have messes down to a minimum."
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