DALLAS, TX - Bucking trash-recycling efforts ranks among Western-style leisure suits and bigger-than-big hair as unacceptably unfashionable for a Dallas that promotes itself as ever more cultured, refined and urbane. So it comes as a surprise to commercial paper recycler AbitibiBowater, manager of 562 drop-off bins located in Dallas school, church and business parking lots, that the Dallas City Council on Wednesday will consider restricting how the company operates.
Some city officials contend that AbitibiBowater's green and yellow "paper retriever" bins look shabby and that the for-profit company doesn't empty them frequently enough. But Dallas City Hall's proposed solution, an ordinance requiring most bins to be hidden behind screens or vegetation, and limiting a single parking lot to two bins, will undercut the city's own campaign to encourage recycling, AbitibiBowater says.
And if the City Council passes the ordinance, AbitibiBowater says it will consider "significant cuts" to the number of bins it has in Dallas. "A lot of folks would never be aware that the recycling containers are behind the screens. And we already spend a lot of time and money on the containers to make them aesthetically palatable to the community," said Darrell Clemons, AbitibiBowater's North Texas area manager. Increasing the number of bin pickups would be "very cost prohibitive for us," Mr. Clemons added. "It's just not feasible to service them three, four, five times a week."
Instead of frequently servicing fewer recycling bins, AbitibiBowater places up to six containers in some private parking lots, offering the landowner up to $20 per ton of paper collected. Numerous schools and churches rely on the money to supplement their budgets. Likewise, Dallas residents of apartments and condominiums, which do not typically receive city recycling services, often use the AbitibiBowater sites to dispose of paper refuse.
But District 12 council member Ron Natinsky, chairman of the economic development committee, says more AbitibiBowater bins equals more trash to people living near recycling drop-off locations. "We've received a lot of complaints from residents, and the more bins on one location, the more complaints we get," Mr. Natinsky said. "This is a private, for-profit company that's making a considerable revenue stream in our neighborhoods. I have no problem with that. But you need to be a good corporate neighbor – that's the bottom line."
Said District 14 council member Angela Hunt: "We have to have a balance between the need for recycling with the need for bins to be well-maintained without them overflowing. Overflowing bins aren't really acceptable. I'll have a lot of questions Wednesday." In addition to rules on the number of bins and the screening requirements, Dallas' ordinance proposal would require at least once-per-week emptying of recycling bins and order that "facilities must be maintained in proper repair and the exterior must have a neat and clean appearance."
The ordinance calls for a fine of up to $2,000 for any violation. And it comes as Dallas is expanding its recycling offerings, providing scheduled pickups throughout the city for single-family homes. Earlier this year, it also signed a five-year, $1.02 million contract to place hundreds of its own recycling bins throughout the city for use primarily by multifamily dwellers. Such city sponsored drop-off sites must also abide by any recycling site ordinance the City Council passes, city officials said.
Mayor Tom Leppert's office confirmed receiving a letter from Mr. Clemons warning that Dallas' proposal "could hamper or end [AbitibiBowater] recycling efforts in Dallas." But the mayor has yet to decide which way he'll vote on the ordinance, said Paula Blackmon, the mayor's deputy chief of staff.
For Deborah Summers, a teacher and recycling coordinator at the Dealey Montessori Academy in North Dallas, loss of the school's AbitibiBowater recycling bins would send the wrong message to children taught to recycle whenever possible. "Sometimes the bins do fill up. But that's maybe twice a year," Ms. Summers said. "Overall, the program works great the way it is. The city needs to encourage the recycling program. And anything that stops people from participating, even a little, will harm recycling efforts for the entire city."
Source: DallasNews.com