Centerville residents offer differing views on curbside recycling

CENTERVILLE — The question of whether to bring a citywide curbside recycling program isn't really "if" anymore. The questions are "when" and "how."

For the past three years, at least, city officials have been talking about bringing recycling to Centerville.

Recently, the city asked its current waste-service provider, ACE Disposal, to present information about how a curbside program could work, said Mayor Ron Russell.

If the city starts a mandatory program, similar to programs implemented this year in Bountiful and Woods Cross, residents can expect to pay $3 to $4 a month for biweekly pickup. If an opt-in program started, the cost would be $6 to $7 per household.

During a public hearing at Tuesday's City Council meeting, residents spoke 5-to-1 in favor of a recycling program.

Two residents who opposed a recycling program, Kevin Rawlings and Phil Sessions, said they don't need another fee from the city.

"I'm three-dollared out," Sessions said. "The word mandatory turns me inside out."

Rawlings said the city bills seem to have climbed over the past 10 years and are already a burden.

That's about the way comments have been flowing into the mayor's e-mail inbox. Most who comment are in favor of recycling, say it's better for the environment and are disappointed that Bountiful no longer has a recycling drop-off location.

Those who are opposed mostly think recycling is a good thing, but they don't want the city to make them do it, Russell said.

But mandatory programs seem to be the way to get the most bang for the city's buck.

Nathan Rich, executive director of the Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District, said mandatory programs are successful. "It's all about volume," he said. A mandatory curbside program can divert as much as 20 percent of the waste that goes into a landfill, extending the landfill's life.

The Layton landfill, which Rich's waste district operates, serves all of Davis County, except Bountiful, and Morgan County. It has about 14 years of life left, Rich said.

Optional programs cost residents more money and are often unsuccessful, says ACE Disposal sales manager Richard Hamik.

The city of Alpine's optional program is the only one he would call excellent, he said.

But when you have an optional program — such as West Valley City's program before March of this year, where only 600 homes out of 27,000 opted to recycle — how much good is really being done, he wonders.

West Valley City has since switched to a mandatory program, said city spokesman Owen Jackson, because participation had been so low.

"In the month of July alone, 586.45 tons of recycled material was hauled away," Jackson said.

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