By Martha Clarvoe

"Our recyclables get dumped, anyway, what’s the point?" I’ve heard this question too many times, so I decided to track those recyclables down to see where they really end up.

The trip started at the MOSA Southern Transfer Station, where recyclables from MOSA’s Northern Transfer Station in Fly Creek meet the recyclables delivered by haulers and area residents to the Oneonta location.

Some of the plastic bags in which they are placed are opened and the recyclables are pulled out by hand. Then the recyclables are loaded into a compactor boxes operated by Waste Recovery Enterprises (WRE) employee Ed Saunders. Ed is responsible for filling the packer trucks and the 40-yard rolloff containers that hold the cardboard and paper.

WRE owner Denny Reed states that each packer truck holds four to five tons of recyclables. Piggy-backing two compact boxes makes for an eight-to-10-ton run of recyclables in a single trip. In Otsego County’s case, a minimum of 20 tons of recyclables makes the round trip to the Broome Recycling, Inc. in Chenango Bridge. The combined mileage for this run is 180 miles.

Broome Recycling, owned by Bert Adams, accepts 30 tons of recyclables a day. The recyclables on this floor are scooped up and placed on a conveyor belt where five employees sort them by hand into at least eight categories; #1 and #2 plastics, office paper, cardboard, paperboard, glass, tin, and aluminum. Broome Recycling also accepts recyclables from Broome and Chenango counties.

When asked what he thought of our recyclables, Adams said, "They could be a little cleaner and less plastic bags would be a real help. Generally, recyclables from Otsego County are pretty good."

Because the biggest waste item in recycling materials-recycling facilities (MRF) is plastic bags, many communities have opted to purchase bins in which to place recyclables at the curbside, thus eliminating a waste item and shortening the sorting time. Some MRFs get so many discarded bags that operators find markets for them.

Just like other commodities, recyclables are often sold by brokers. Materials such as office paper, plastics, and aluminum that come to the recycling facility at a slower rate are baled in a manner very similar to cardboard or hay baling. Plastics are separated into three categories, #2 HDPE (milk jugs), #2 HDPE (colored plastic), and #1 PET (soda bottles). They are moved out when an adequate amount has been collected and when the price is profitable. At WRE, guaranteed quantities such as newspapers and cardboard have a long-standing contract. Newspapers go to Kruger Papermill in Trois Rivières, Quebec. (The Binghamton Press purchases paper from this paper mill, so these newspapers make a full circle.) Cardboard goes to Solvay Paper Company in Syracuse, where recycled paper entering the factory comes out as fresh paper in 45 minutes, from start to finish.

Along with containers, paper recyclables are also delivered to WRE. [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Paper collected from MOSA’s stations are placed in a 40-yardcontainer, delivered to the WRE facilities in Sidney, and transferred to a 100-yard walking floor trailer (48 feet long) that holds 16-20 tons. It takes five to six 40-yard containers to fill the walking trailer. A full trailer makes the trip to Chenango Bridge two or three times a week.

In short, Otsego County sends a minimum of 20 tons of container recyclables and 32 tons of paper recyclables to Broome Recycling every week. These items are not getting landfilled. They are being made into new products.

Everyone can save money on garbage costs by recycling. There is no charge to drop recyclables at the 13 transfer stations in Otsego County. Hartwick resident Brian Wrubleski offers proof of this. He reduced his garbage by half after learning that there was no cost to drop off recyclables at the transfer stations, proportionately cutting costs in half, too.

According to Karen Sullivan, Otsego County Senior Planner working in the planning and solid waste departments, the Otsego County user fee pays for recycling costs as well as subsidizing waste deliveries and supports the annual Household Hazardous Waste Day, free each year to all county residents.

Since MOSA covers the cost of garbage hauling to Ontario County, its transportation costs would be reduced as a result. Less garbage making the four-hour trip results in less diesel fuel being used, less pollution created, and fewer expensive trips to the Ontario County landfill. Recycling is therefore cost-effective.

Recycling is a win-win situation for Otsego County residents. OCCA encourages everyone to reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever possible. For more information about how you can save money, visit the OCCA website at www.occainfo.org and look for the flier "Recycling: Above and Beyond" or call 547-4020 to request that a flier be mailed to you. A list of recycling drop-off sites can be found at www.otsegocounty.com; look under "Departments" and in "solid waste."

___

Martha Clarvoe is special projects manager for the Otsego County Conservation Association and serves as an appointed member to the MOSA board of directors.