Director of Service Operations
Jeff Heintz estimates that approximately half of Bismarck residents recycle and
notes that there has been consistent growing use of recycling drop-off sites
all throughout the city. However, even those who are interested find it hard to
keep up on what the city recycles and how the system works and what is taken.
Many sites advertize that they only take plastics 1 and 2, but Bismarck will
actually pick up plastics #1 through #7.
After a phone survey conducted by UND, the Bismarck City
Commission voted unanimously in August of
2008 to establish a task force to research improvements to the system. Their recomendation was to
establish a two-sort curbside
pickup, meaning users would sort recycling between paper items and all others,
to be picked up by a commercial hauler.
The city could negotiate for a
percentage of the profits gained from the sale of the recyclables, but would
not invest in creating their own
infrastructure for pickup when it was
already in place through private enterprise. The task force also recommended providing economic incentives to
residents to encourage recycling and to begin recycling education.
“The commission accepted that report,” Heintz said, “but really didn’t go any further than
that.”
They wanted more information first.
This past January, a
survey on implementing a Pay-As-You-Throw
or PAYT program was sent out in the city water bill. There were 4,568
responses. A “tremendous response,” according to Heintz.
While the name may be a little
misleading, the program actually estimates a savings for residents. Currently,
the price for picking up a 95 gallon trash container is $9.55 per month. Under
the proposed PAYT system, 95 gallon trash containers are estimated to cost
$7.55 per month, with additional bags predicted to cost between $1 and
$1.75 per bag, to be marked by a pre-paid tag available at convinence stores
and grocery stores.
But if a person recycled, they could reduce their trash size to a 35 gallon pickup
at $5.55 per month because recycling containers, to be provided by the city,
would be free. The survey indicated that 41.5 percent of Bismarck is in favor of this plan while 34.6 percent oppose it. Of those surveyed, 70.6
percent feel informed.
The City of Mandan will meet
next month to discuss improvements
to their recycling system. Bismarck
discussed it Tuesday, March 23.
Tonya Schlaht of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce Leadership Team presented
the council with the findings from the survey, but the council is reticent with
less than 50 percent of Bismarck
on board.
The next step is educating
Bismarck residents of the
necessity for and the benefits of recycling. Of the kinks yet to iron
out is what to do with grass clippings and compostable garden waste, which
can currently be brough to drop-off sites. Connie
Sprynczynatyk, who helped form the Commerce Leadership Team, was the most
excited about their findings and wished that she could vote yes on the issue
later this year, but regrets that she will not have the office to do so.
The city is very interested in
recycling efforts largely to “be saving landfill space” as Galen Bren, the
city’s recycling specialist said. In 2009, 1332.3 tons of recyclable material
was kept out of the landfill. If the city landfill’s life can be extended, then
it will save all tax payers in the long run because the city will not have to
find a new place to deposit all of our garbage.
However, Bismarck residents
only contribute 1/3 of the garbage to the landfill. Bigger contributers are
businesses and nearby rural residents. Rural residents have indicated that they
are very interested in recycling but cannot feasably achieve it without support
from the city and a hauler to service them.
Current opportunities for recycling in Bismarck-Mandan include composting
drop-off sites thoughout both cities, thrift-stores, eye-glass recycling drop
boxes, and “freecycling” networks. One such network is
managed through a Yahoo! Group called “bisman-freecycle.” The Department
of Health manages the other, which is called the “North Dakota Materials Exchange Program.” Free-cycling offers the ability to trade items you do not want
for items that you do.
There have been over 3000
postings on this group to date.
When asked if Bismarck was closer to getting curbside
recycling or a Pay-As-You-Throw program that would provide economic incentives to citizens to recycle,
Galen Bren replied that recycling issues were on the agenda to be discussed by
the city later in March.
The mayor recently put a group together to
investigate recycling.
Recycling can be a source of
revenue. Collection of these
reuseable raw materials can be sold for approximately $155 per ton for iron and $140 per ton for white goods
(which refers to appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers), according to Bren. The city could raise a good amount of income by collecting 8 to 10 tons of tin cans alone.
To contact Bismarck’s Recycling center, call 355-1700.
PULL OUT FOR SIDEBAR:
Saving Space
A city-wide recycling program could slow the rate at which the landfill takes in various materials each year.
- Newspaper 494 tons
- Cardboard 248 tons
- Office paper 3.3 tons
- Phonebooks 5 tons
- Plastics 76 tons
- Tin and Alum cans 28 tons
- Scrap Metal 478 tons
SIDEBAR 2 - RECYCLING OPTIONS:
ONLY LISTING FULL-SERVICE
LOCATIONS IN BISMARCK
Bismarck-Mandan Recycling Options
The cities of Bismarck and
Mandan have more opportunities for recycling than might be known by many of
their residents. There are, in total, 37 places in Bismarck to take various
recyclables. Mandan also has compost
drop-off sites.
Not all the sites in Bismarck
take the same things. There are 18 sites in the city where residents can take
their general recycling, which includes corrugated cardboard, newspapers,
aluminum cans, tin cans, and plastics #1
through #7.
(Recyclables do not include plastic bags, used motor oil or vegetable
oil bottles, or smooth or waxed cardboard, such as cereal boxes.)
At the moment, there is no glass
recycling in Bismarck, but the state government is facilitating discussions
with many interested groups in the hopes that glass will be recyclable in the
future.
Waste Management's Recycling
Center accepts magazines.
At ten of these sites, residents
can take their yard waste, grass clippings and leaves and some limited
vegetable product from gardents. These sites do not take woody debris. To
dispose of that, it is best to take it directly to the landfill or put it out
with the trash.
Twelve sites around the city take only yard waste.
In addition, six business in Bismarck accept other recyclables
such as rechargeable batteries, car batteries, plastic bags, CFL light bulbs,
ink and toner cartridges, cell-phones, scrap metal, tires, and aluminum cans.
Besides recycling or throwing out your used goods, there are five
trift stores in Bismark-Mandan and
several freecycling networks.
For a full list, including
addresses and a map, visit the city's website at www.bismarck.org.
A: FULL SERVICE CITY
RECYCLING DROP-OFF SITES:
Takes: yard waste, corrugated cardboard, newspapers,
aluminum beverage cans, tin cans, plastics #1-#7
1. W. Ash Coulee Road water tower (east of Horizon Middle
School)
2. N. 19th St & E. Oregon Ave (near Element Student
Center)
3. N. Stonewall Dr & E. Penn’s Ln (dead end)
4. N. Kavaney Dr. & W. Central Ave (Northbrook
Shopping Center)
5. N. 16th St & E. Spalding Ave (Optimist Park)
6. BSC Bowl on W. Edwards Ave (west end of campus)
7. N. 17th St & E. Avenue F (Hillside Park)
8. N. Hannifin St & W. Avenue D (south side of the
soccer fields)
9. N. Hannifin St & W. Sweet Ave (Kiwanis Park, west
of baseball fields)
10. S. Airport Rd & E. Tatley Park Rd (north end of
Tatley Park)
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