How Columbus is promoting recycling in 2023

Columbus, Ohio (WCMH) — Recyclables will be collected weekly from Columbus curbs by mid-2023, doubling the current schedule.

Mayor Andrew Ginther’s 2023 proposed General Fund budget allocates $6 million to increase curbside recycling collection to once a week. The General Fund proposal totals $1.14 billion, with the remaining millions of dollars allocated for after-school programs and housing projects.

Garbage sorting manager Tim Swagger said the city believes the more frequent schedule will result in a 25% to 40% increase in recyclables being diverted from local landfills. Swoger says that now residents typically don’t bring the overflow to the drop off point if he fills up the blue cart every two weeks or forgets to take it outside on pick-up day.

“People start throwing out their recycling when their carts are full,” says Swauger.

Rob Taylor, director of grants and community development at The Recycling Partnership, a national nonprofit, says the analysis is probably comparable. Taylor said his nonprofit also recommends that cities that offer bi-weekly pickups provide residents with 95-gallon carts. Swauger said Columbus primarily uses his 64-gallon carts.

“We feel that this means that the city’s recycling program is not working well for that reason,” Taylor said.

A switch to weekly could fix that imbalance, he said.

The Recycling Partnership works with local governments to promote residential curbside recycling programs, in part through grants. Columbus and some of its surrounding suburbs within the jurisdiction of the Central Ohio Solid Waste Administration receive grants from nonprofits for a variety of programs related to waste diversion. .

Many suburbs around the city already have weekly recycling collections, but SWACO executive director Joe Lombardi said it could be more obvious to tackle street recycling in smaller suburban communities. says there is.

“I am very encouraged by Mayor Ginther’s announcement,” Lombardi said. “We believe it will play right into our transformation goals and the city’s climate action goals.”

According to SWACO, which has set a goal of a 75% diversion rate by 2032, Franklin County’s latest diversion rate (the amount of waste not sent to landfills) is 51%.

Still, one of the conversion-related challenges facing both Columbus and its surrounding suburbs is how to approach recycling in multifamily and multi-unit residential properties. Many within the city limits don’t offer on-site recycling, and when they do, property owners often turn to outside vendors, Swauger said.

The City, SWACO, and the Recycling Partnership are piloting recycling in multiple multifamily homes beginning in 2021.

“Less convenience means more recyclables end up in the waste stream, and in multi-family housing, even when recycling is taking place, it is often shared. “They’re being recycled,” Taylor said, adding that shared recycling containers are contaminated with recyclables that aren’t recyclable.

Beyond weekly curbside collection, $2.1 million more for Ginther’s proposed General Fund Budgets are allocated for other waste and recycling efforts. According to the proposal, this would include two drop-off convenience centers that “properly handle difficult-to-recycle items, food waste for composting, regular hazardous waste collection, and drop-off of bulk items.” It will be