Kicked to the curb?

If your household currently recycles only one Sunday paper and two 16-ounce soda bottles a week, then you are in step with the city’s residential-recycling rate of 6 percent. Feeling the sting of this low statistic, some officials are now looking to reform a city that was once at the forefront of the recycling movement.

At the advice of recycling and environmental advocates, the city controller’s office conducted a study on Philadelphia’s operations. The report, released last month, notes the city collected 699,000 tons of curbside waste in fiscal year 2004 -of which only 44,000 tons was recycled, leading to a rate of 6 percent. This figure comes from the amount recycled divided by the amount of curbside waste.

The percentage is equivalent to South Philly’s recycling rate, according to the city controller’s office. Recyclable materials are transported to the city’s only private recycling facility at 29th and Ellsworth streets.

The program "has been a total failure," said City Controller Jonathan Saidel. "We’re not enforcing the law. We’re not educating the population as to how this will save money in landfill costs and increase the revenue of recycling paper."

In an unprecedented measure, City Council passed a Recycling Ordinance in 1987, making Philadelphia the first city to mandate the action. The ordinance required the recycling of 50 percent of the city’s total solid-waste stream by 1991. This number was reduced to 35 to 40 percent after a waste composition study in 2000.

The recent report stated the city could save $540,000 for every 1-percent increase in the rate by offsetting landfill costs and taking advantage of a thriving recycling market. The city acquired more than $1.1 million in revenue from the city’s private recycling center for the disposal of recycled paper, while forking over $35 million in landfill costs in fiscal year 2004, noted the report.

"It would be nice to see what people consider trash and make a profit out of it," said Saidel. "This is not just something for the environment, not just something federally managed. There’s an opportunity for the people of Philadelphia to get a benefit out of it."

LOOKING TO MAINTAIN the 2000 study’s recycling goal, the report offers suggestions, such as recycling corrugated cardboard and plastics. The city currently recycles newspaper, office paper, glass containers and metal cans.

John Smyth, vice president of the Bella Vista United Civic Association, lauded the idea, but said more grass-roots efforts should be implemented. He made note of volunteers in the city’s Rittenhouse Square section who collect for recycling on weekends.

"Hundreds of people show up. They get the community involved," said Smyth. "We know the city’s not doing it, but there are people out there collecting this stuff and it puts you in a recycling mode."

Smyth also took aim at a confusing recycling schedule and the color-coded bins placed curbside. To entice residents to recycle regularly, the report stated Philadelphia should forego its biweekly collection – taking place in most of the city – for a weekly one. A single-stream collection where all recyclables are in one receptacle and separated mechanically at the facility would make the job more feasible for residents, the report noted.

The report also suggests expanding the city’s "pilot-incentive program" taking place in Chestnut Hill and sections of Roxborough. A collection vehicle weighs a resident’s recycling receptacle, which is embedded with a computer chip. An account is credited with the weight of recyclables and converted into coupon dollars that would be redeemable at local stores.

Smyth liked the idea, but said it might entice stealing from neighboring bins. Increased educational efforts – also recommended in the report – might raise awareness of the dilemma, he said.

"They really have to work at it," Smyth said. "They really have to get into the neighborhoods and meet the folks. Then they should track [recycling efforts] neighborhood by neighborhood and do a report on it."

Offering its own ideas, the Recycling Alliance of Philadelphia, an association of organizations and individuals working to promote recycling, is calling for the hiring of a new coordinator under the direction of the city’s managing director. Currently reporting to the Streets Department, the position became vacant when former coordinator David B. Robinson was indicted last month for misuse of government funds.

"The Streets Department doesn’t seem to promote an atmosphere that is in favor of recycling," said Eric Wilden, Eastern Pennsylvania director for alliance member Clean Water Action. "If I was someone who was qualified for the position coming from another city, I wouldn’t have that much faith in the Streets Department to promote a positive and beneficial recycling program."

Emily Buenaflor, spokesperson for the Streets Department, said the city understands the importance of recycling and is committed to increasing the percentage.

The department has seen many "positive results" from the incentive-based program and is working on "evaluating and replicating its success in broader, more challenging conditions," she said. The challenge, added Buenaflor, is determining what approach or combination of approaches will work best for the city.

Embarrassed by the rate, Geoff DiMasi, Passyunk Square Civic Association vice president, said Philadelphia pales in comparison to efforts in other cities. At the association’s Greenfest in May, members passed out pamphlets to raise awareness about energy conservation and recycling. And increasing recycling could transform the city into a greener place, said DiMasi.

"Recycling is a piece of this bigger puzzle," he said. "There’s a whole industry of [businesses with] green, sustainable stuff and, if we have a 6-percent recycling rate, this is not the city they’re going to bring this industry to."