Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Louise Mann trash class report in NWA Times


Company urges care in glass recycling as Fayetteville tests changes

Posted: April 26, 2016 at 1 a.m.
The city of Fayetteville is considering changes to its recycling program.
FAYETTEVILLE -- Glass can help pay for a city's recycling program or hobble it permanently depending on how the city handles the brittle material, representatives of the company processing Fayetteville's glass recycling told residents Monday.
Around 50 people gathered Monday evening in the downtown Chancellor Hotel for a presentation from Kansas City, Mo.-based Ripple Glass on how a city should recycle its glass jars and bottles. Fayetteville is in the middle of a 90-day pilot program that switches its curbside-sorting recycling program with a single-stream model letting residents mix all recyclables together in their curbside carts.
The program covers about 1,000 households in the city's southeast and two apartment complexes, and it accepts glass along with cardboard, paper, plastics and cans. But glass breaks easily, which in turn makes it difficult and costly to separate from everything else, said Mike Utz, Ripple Glass's founder.
"This is the fundamental problem of the single-stream system -- the extra handling of glass," Utz said. As a result, glass going in recycling bins might not end up recycled: Around 60 percent of it's lost in single-stream systems, he said, citing a 2009 report from the nonprofit Container Recycling Institute in California.
Splitting glass from the rest of the recyclables allows almost all of it to be reused, said Michelle Goth, Ripple's regional business manager. She urged Fayetteville to consider a similar system.
Fayetteville recycled more than 6,000 tons of material last year, including about 1,300 to Ripple, according to the city's year-end report. With composting and other measures, the city diverts about 20 percent of its waste from the landfill.
The City Council set a goal three years ago to quadruple that rate to 80 percent by 2025. It has paid about $300,000 for Florida-based Kessler Consulting to put together a plan reach that goal, an effort that includes the pilot programs.
City officials in the past few months have stressed the pilots are simply to test out the ideas; the data that comes from them will inform an eventual council vote on whether to make any city-wide changes.
"Nothing has been decided," Brian Pugh, the city's waste reduction coordinator, said before the meeting.
The program has been promising so far, doubling the amount of recyclable material collected from 2 tons a week to 4 tons. The proportion of collection that can't be recycled for any reason has also gone up from less than 1 percent to around 9 percent, Pugh said. More is being recycled even with the increase.
Contamination with broken glass or other material is a common problem with single-stream systems around the country. Springdale and Bentonville, for example, see contamination around 8 percent, according to their curbside pickup companies; Pulaski County, which also offers single-stream, sees around 40 percent.
That's why Louise Mann, a retired teacher and recycling advocate who supports Fayetteville's curbside-sort and drop-off system, arranged Monday's meeting. She said Monday other material industries have complaints much like Ripple's, and she plans to hold similar meetings with other companies.
"The liquids drip, the paper gets stuck," Mann said of single-stream systems' failings.
Pugh acknowledged glass can be a problem within a recycling system; in the pilots, Harmon Recycling is hand-sorting the material to avoid the issue. But technology in recent years has become better at separating out nearly all of the glass, though it's expensive.
"It's just kind of a hit-and-miss," Pugh said.
NW News on 04/26/2016

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

April 19, 2016, City Council agenda

City of Fayetteville, Arkansas


113 West Mountain Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701
479-575-8323 




City Council Meeting


April 19, 2016
5:30 p.m.


City Hall Room 219
113 West Mountain
City Council

Adella Gray Ward 1
Sarah Marsh Ward 1
Mark Kinion Ward 2
Matthew Petty Ward 2
Justin Tennant Ward 3
Martin W. Schoppmeyer, Jr. Ward 3
John S. La Tour Ward 4
Alan Long Ward 4
ELECTED OFFICIALS:
Mayor Lioneld Jordan
City Attorney Kit Williams
City Clerk Treasurer Sondra Smith
Call To Order

Roll Call

Pledge of Allegiance

Mayor’s Announcements, Proclamations and Recognitions

City Council Meeting Presentations, Reports and Discussion Items:

Agenda Additions:

A.Consent:

A.1 2015-0645 APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 5, 2016 CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES.


A.2 2016-0176 BID #16-26 HD SUPPLY WATERWORKS, LTD: A RESOLUTION TO AWARD BID #16-26 AND AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF TREE GRATES AND FRAMES FROM HD SUPPLY WATERWORKS, LTD. IN THE AMOUNT OF $55,995.00 PLUS APPLICABLE TAXES FOR THE COLLEGE AVENUE ENHANCEMENT PROJECT



A.3 2016-0163 GOODYEAR, MICHELIN AND BRIDGESTONE TIRES: A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF GOODYEAR, MICHELIN AND BRIDGESTONE TIRES FROM VARIOUS LOCAL VENDORS IN VARIABLE AMOUNTS AND FOR VARYING UNIT PRICES AS NEEDED THROUGH MARCH 31, 2017 AND ANY FUTURE RENEWAL PERIODS, PURSUANT TO STATE PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS, FOR USE BY THE FLEET DIVISION



A.4 2016-0180 ARKANSAS FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW GRANT: A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE ACCEPTANCE OF A GRANT FROM THE ARKANSAS FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,500.00 FOR THE PURCHASE OF NATIVE PLANT MATERIALS TO BE PLANTED IN A PORTION OF WILSON PARK THAT HAS BEEN CLEARED OF INVASIVE PLANTS, AND TO APPROVE A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT




B.Unfinished Business:  None

C.Public Hearing:

C.1 2016-0140 CONDEMNATION OF FIFTEEN FOOT STRIP OF LAND IN SPRING STREET PARKING LOT: A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY ATTORNEY TO SEEK CONDEMNATION AND POSSESSION OF CERTAIN LANDS OWNED BY THE UNKNOWN HEIRS OF JOHN AND ALMA REHM NEEDED FOR THE OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF LOT 56, A CITY-OPERATED PUBLIC PARKING LOT, AND TO APPROVE A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT




D.New Business:

D.1 2016-0177 BID WAIVER FOR LIGHT POLES & FIXTURES: AN ORDINANCE TO WAIVE THE REQUIREMENTS OF FORMAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING AND AUTHORIZE THE PURCHASE OF STREET LIGHT POLES AND FIXTURES MANUFACTURED BY AMERLUX EXTERIOR, LLC FROM THE SOLE REGIONAL DISTRIBUTOR, PREMIER LIGHTING GROUP, INC., IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $210,500.00 FOR CITY-WIDE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2020



D.2 2016-0181 VAC 16-5375 (1924 E. CHARLEE ST./ SEASIDE POOLS): AN ORDINANCE TO APPROVE VAC 16-5375 SUBMITTED BY SEASIDE POOLS, INC. FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1924 EAST CHARLEE STREET TO VACATE A PORTION OF A UTILITY EASEMENT



E.City Council Agenda Session Presentations:

E.1 2016-0170 AGENDA SESSION PRESENTATION - FAYETTEVILLE URBAN FORESTRY ADVISORY BOARD ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL


F.City Council Tour:

G.Announcements:

H.Adjournment