Posted July 6, 200618 yr Southwest Ohio leads trend toward single-bin recycling Elimination of sorting improves efficiency and participation, but some question quality of recycled products. By Tim Mullin Cox News Service WASHINGTON — Recycling programs across the nation are making it easier for consumers by letting them use a single bin for all materials, a trend that has swept southwestern Ohio. A survey by the American Forest and Paper Association trade group showed that 27 percent of recycling programs nationwide now use a single-bin system, up from 10 percent in 2000.
October 6, 200618 yr Recycling to expand in Butler Co. BY JENNIFER BAKER | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER October 6, 2006 WEST CHESTER TWP. - Starting later this month, free recycling will be offered to residents in West Chester, Liberty and Fairfield townships so Butler County can meet state-mandated recycling goals. Residents can take recyclable items – including plastic bottles, glass jars, brown grocery bags - to nine drop-box locations placed at township administration buildings, fire stations, commercial sites and parks. http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/NEWS01/310060024
April 22, 200718 yr Going green gets easier We're with Earth Day program, could do better http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070422/NEWS01/704220339/1077/COL02 Recycling can still be a tough sell in some parts of town. Just ask Diane Utaski. She had to knock on doors, circulate petitions and butt heads just to get curbside recycling at her Symmes Township condo complex. "Recycling should be a no-brainer by now," said Utaski, owner of a booking agency for health-care educators . The payback Here's what recyclers are paying per pound for: 1.80: Copper 0.55: Aluminum cans 0.01: Office paper 0.005: Newspaper
September 7, 200717 yr Chinese recycler plans first U.S. office in Cincinnati BY JAMES RITCHIE | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER September 7, 2007 CINCINNATI - People notice when jobs and investment go to China. But those are not the only American exports supporting that country's economic boom. China has become a great customer for the United States' scrap industry, buying $6.7 billion of metals, plastics and other materials last year to be recycled for manufacturing and construction. U.S. castoffs have become so important to China, in fact, that at least one Chinese company has decided it wants in on the business - from this side.
October 26, 200717 yr City top-rated in county recycling October 26, 2007 | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER MADEIRA - Madeira has the highest recycling rate in Hamilton County, the county Environmental Services announced Thursday. The city recycled 465 tons of material in the first six months of 2007, making its 25.59 percent recycling rate the highest among 47 other areas in the county. Madeira is also the only city in the county that charges residents if their amount of trash exceeds a 35-gallon container. That has encouraged recycling, officials said. For more information, visit www.madeiracity.com
February 12, 200817 yr Green Township is a westside suburb of Cincinnati. Recycling pickups speeded up February 11, 2008 | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER GREEN TWP. -- Residents are dropping off so many recyclables at three township locations - Kuliga Park, Blue Rock Park and the Green Township Sam's Club - officials decided to increase the number of times the bins are emptied from once a week to twice a week. "We've been spending too much time with a backhoe loader shoving recyclables deeper into the bins and they're still overflowing," said Fred Schlimm, director of public services. "So, we had to go to two pickups a week."
February 12, 200817 yr Sounds like a great idea to me. Recyclers could reap rewards BY JESSICA BROWN | CINCINNATI ENQUIRER February 12, 2008 CINCINNATI - Greater Cincinnati residents – including outlying counties – recycle around 100,000 tons of trash a year through Rumpke. Their reward: the pleasure of knowing they’re helping the environment.
July 9, 200816 yr Montgomery chosen for pilot RecycleBank Households get coupons by recycling http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080709/NEWS01/807090305/1168/NEWS
August 3, 200816 yr I am really enjoying DT Cincinnati's recycling service. It is single-sort -- throw everything that is recyclable into the bin, and it's done. It's unfortunate that they only take PET (type 1) and HDPE (type 2), because a lot of my sacks (when I forget to use cloth bags) and containers use PVC (type 3) and LDPE (type 4).
May 15, 200916 yr Rumpke bets on green Company spends millions on recycling so it has less trash, more products to sell By Laura Baverman, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 15, 2009 Someday soon, recycling may be easier than tossing your trash. It will be a time when grocery stores require containers made of used plastics and paper, and when cities and counties pay you to recycle. A large green cart may replace your brown garbage container. The cart will have compartments for recycling and food waste, and only a small space for trash.
May 20, 200916 yr Rumpke does not officially accept plastics other than 1 or 2 for recycling, so what happens to the 3's and up that they collect? Are they just trashed, or does Rumpke actually do something else with them?
May 20, 200916 yr Sent to the trash bin. I've heard that they will be accepting 3's and 4's soon, but the market for those plastics have waned recently.
May 20, 200916 yr Okay, beacuse I've recently started sorting out my Plastic #5's and taking them somewhere that accepts them. Good to know that my effort is actually productive -- i.e., they would just be trashed if I tossed them in the Rumpke bin. That being said -- Either Rumpke needs to start accepting #5's, or companies making dairy products need to figure out how to use #1 or #2 plastics for their containers.
August 4, 200915 yr I have been wanting to see the city get larger carts like this for some time, but this is probably poor timing and probably a good move for the Mayor to "yank" the vote rather than risk the future of the program. Mallory yanks vote on recycling Cincinnati City Councill will not vote Wednesday on a $3.5 million lease of new 64-gallon, wheeled recycling carts. Mayor Mark Mallory said today he won’t put the issue on the agenda. The mayor controls what goes on the agenda for council. Mallory decided it’s not a good time to vote on the expenditure, given that the city is preparing to lay workers off to make up for a $28 million budget deficit this year. The recycling cart plan passed 5-3 Monday out of council’s finance committee, with approval from Vice Mayor David Crowley, Laketa Cole, Roxanne Qualls, Cecil Thomas and Greg Harris. Read full article here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090804/NEWS0108/308040055/1055/NEWS/Mallory+yanks+vote+on+recycling
August 4, 200915 yr Yeah, I almost posted the "Council OKs $3.5M for recycling carts" article, but it was followed up so quickly with a yank. I agree, as much as I would like to see the city encourage recycling through the larger bins, it just comes at a time when the city simply cannot afford it. Reintroduce it in a better climate and it'll be a better sell.
August 5, 200915 yr In the mean time, make it easier for people to get several of the current bins. When all of my roommates are living here during the school year, we will easily fill up a bin in just a few days. Neighbors have a propensity to steal them after they're emptied on collection day.
October 13, 200915 yr Cincinnati among finalists in national Cash for Cans recycling video contest http://www.soapboxmedia.com/innovationnews/1013cashforcans.aspx By Feoshia Henderson | Soapbox Cincinnati, October 13, 2009 Get Sick Productions, a local viral marketing and new media production company, has produced what could soon be an award winning video in a national Cash for Cans contest. The "I CAN" video, which features citizens, a mascot, and even pair of elephants promoting aluminum can recycling, is one of about 75 videos that were submitted to the contest sponsored by The United States Conference of Mayors, Novelis Corporation and Keep America Beautiful Inc. The winning city earns $5,000 for local recycling efforts. The winning video will be the commercial for Keep America Beautiful's 2010 Cans for Cash city recycling challenge. Cincinnati's video was chosen as one of the best and is in the top 12. From Oct. 12-Oct. 31, you can vote for the winning video HERE. "This contest is a great way to showcase Cincinnati in the national spotlight as a leader in sustainability," says Jon Miller, President of Get Sick Productions. "Everyone can help the city by going to the website and voting for the video." Cincinnati's Office of Environmental Quality, Get Sick Productions, Rumpke, Mayor Mallory's Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet (YPKC), and the Cincinnati Zoo collaborated to produce the video for the contest. "This was a great opportunity for the various organizations in the area to come together and support an important cause," remarks Aja Roberto, YPKC member.
November 3, 200915 yr Little by Little, Cincinnati Improves Recycling Program http://www.urbancincy.com/2009/10/little-by-little-cincinnati-improves.html By Jenny Kessler | UrbanCincy, October 28, 2009 Last week the city of Cincinnati announced changes to its current curbside recycling program. Members of City Council, Mayor Mallory and representatives from Rumpke and the Office of Environmental Quality gathered at the original LaRosa's pizza location on Boudinot Avenue to make their announcement. In partnership with Rumpke Recycling, the City will now collect more items than ever before including all plastic bottle types (still no lids), jugs and pizza boxes (no leftover pepperoni or banana peppers please). Additionally, households can put out multiple recycling bins if their recycling needs exceeds the single green bin. Click here to order your extra recycling bin. Acceptable Items for Recycling: All plastic bottles and jugs (no lids) Glass jars and bottles of any color Aluminum, steel and bi-metal cans Empty aerosol cans with lids and tips removed Brown grocery bags Computer paper, and other mixed office paper Corrugated cardboard, broken down to 3' X 3' Envelopes, with or without windows Junk mail Magazines Newspapers with inserts Paperboard, such as cereal boxes Telephone books Pizza boxes (free of food residue) Download the list of acceptable recycling materials and guidelines to keep around the house or post for your tenants. Please be sure to rinse out and dry all jars, jugs and bottles before placing them in your bin. Bottle caps are not currently accepted in the City recycling program, however, plastic lids (i.e. milk jugs) can be taken to any Aveda Institute for recycling. Metal lids (i.e. spaghetti sauce jars) can be recycled at any scrap dealer in the area who accepts steel. For those residents who do not currently have curbside recycling services (households who have private trash service dumpsters) can collect their recyclables and take them to various recycling drop off locations around the city. Signage at the drop off centers will be updated within the next few weeks to reflect the changes in materials accepted. Rumpke has not expanded these changes to the entirety of its service area. These changes are only reflected for the City of Cincinnati. According to Sue Magness from the Office of Environmental Quality, "Technically, the new sorting facility is still under construction and they are temporarily warehousing the materials. So Rumpke will expand as new contracts are established (as in the case of the City), or after the installation of the “state of the art” equipment is complete." The announcement comes on the heels of tumultuous budget discussions that backtracked on a funding promise that would have provided new larger recycling carts for Cincinnatians and gotten the city started with a RecycleBank program that rewards users for the amount they recycle. Those upgrades to the City's recycling program would have paid for themselves almost immediately through the higher payments the City would have received from Rumpke Recycling for higher recycling volumes.
December 4, 200915 yr Cincinnati wins $5,000 first-place prize in national recycling contest By Randy A. Simes, UrbanCincy | November 23, 2009 http://www.urbancincy.com/2009/11/cincinnati-wins-5000-first-place-prize.html Cincinnati has won the American Recycler Video Award and the $5,000 first-place prize that goes along with it for the City’s recycling efforts. The contest was sponsored by the National Mayoral Congress, Keep America Beautiful, and The Novelis Corp., and asked participating cities to create a short, web-based film promoting aluminum can recycling while also incorporating the 2009 theme of “Recycling starts with I CAN.” The finalists from California, Minnesota, Alabama, Florida and Ohio were selected by the sponsors, and then voted on by the general public. Cincinnati’s entry was produced by Cincinnati-based Get Sick Productions, in association with the Office of Environmental Quality, and will be used as the 2010 commercial for the Cans for Cash initiative. “The videos showcased the diversity of communities and their unique approaches to recycling and again proved that cities are leading the charge towards a greener tomorrow,” said Tom Cochran, CEO and Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “Congratulations to the City of Cincinnati on their impressive win and all the cities on their commitment to recycling programs.” Cincinnati will be honored at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 78th Winter Meeting in Washington D.C. this January along with a host of other cities for their innovative recycling programs and impressive recycling rates.
December 10, 200915 yr The progression of two cities in recycling Authored by Sherman Cahal on December 10, 2009 at UrbanUp Lexington, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio, two cities that both recycle garbage in an attempt to reduce landfill sizes, create profit and benefit the environment. One of these cities, however, is expanding its pickup services and striving to become a "zero waste" community, while the other is contemplating of cutting back its collection services in order to save money. See the above URL for the remainder.
December 15, 200915 yr Tuesday, December 15, 2009 6:00pm - 7:30pm Pleasant Ridge Recreation Center 5915 Ridge Ave. Join us at this public hearing! Get the word out and WEAR GREEN! If you'd like to speak please arrive at 5:00 to make sure you're on the list! Visit our notes section for some helpful talking points! Don't forget to wear green! We must be seen as a united front! Be green and carpool! To sign the online petition, go here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/cincinnatirecycling/
December 15, 200915 yr Oh, and thank you Sherman. I shared your article on my @greeneyedcity twitter feed.
January 19, 201015 yr Hey guys. I just posted a new entry at http://greeneyedcity.blogspot.com, taking a look at a couple examples of recycling infrastructure in parts of Chicago. Municipal recycling infrastructure: A Chicago Case Study for Cincinnati Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 by Christian Huelsman This past weekend, several friends and I took a trip to Chicago. megabus ran a promotion for free seats, back in December, and we decided to take a 24-hour trip to the Windy City. I had plans to visit old standbys like Reckless Records, but also visit sustainable spots I found online. Unfortunately, our time ran short for running to Green Grocer Chicago, 360SEE, and Crop to Cup Coffee Company. I did, however, satiate my desire to find green assets in Chicago by doing photographic research for my upcoming presentations in Cincinnati neighborhoods. The following are some new and old examples of recycling infrastructure in Chicago. Of course, these examples cannot be found all over the city, but they exhibit clear evidence of the power of partnerships. [read the rest of the article here: http://greeneyedcity.blogspot.com/]
February 9, 201015 yr Cincinnati to kick off new Enhanced Recycling Program late spring 2010 By Randy A. Simes, Soapbox Cincinnati | February 9, 2010 http://soapboxmedia.com/devnews/0209enhancedrecycling.aspx The City of Cincinnati will begin distributing new larger recycling carts this May as part of the city's enhanced recycling program. Distribution will occur in four phases and will eventually include carts at 104,000 households in Cincinnati. The new recycling carts are touted as having several benefits over the existing 18 gallon bins used now. The new carts will be offered in 18, 35, 64 and 96 gallon sizes, but will primarily be the larger ones according to Office of Environmental Quality Director Larry Falkin. "All households in one - to four- family structures and additional larger structures that receive City trash collection will receive the new carts," said Falkin. The new recycling carts will offer more than just additional capacity and wheels though, as the enhanced recycling program will also start a city-wide RecycleBank program that rewards users for increased recycling participation. The RecycleBank program works by awarding points to users for the amount they recycle by tracking their participation through a small computer chip in the new recycling carts. According to Falkin, these points can then be redeemed for free products and discounts at local and national retailers. The new RecycleBank program will be one of the largest around and only the second such program in Ohio - Montgomery is in the second year of its RecycleBank program. Falkin also stated that in other communities benefits in supermarkets and drugstores tend to be the most popular rewards. The improvements being made in Cincinnati's enhanced recycling program will place Cincinnati among the national leaders in participation and diversion rates according to Falkin. Most large cities in America currently offer curbside recycling programs comparable to Cincinnati's current program, but only a third of those use volume-based trash fees to encourage waste minimization. Residents will soon be receiving informative mailings from the City that will detail the upcoming enhanced recycling program with important dates and changes. Future improvements, to the enhanced recycling program, might include a return to weekly service, expansion of the program to businesses and multi-family structures, and the inclusion of milk cartons and juice boxes.
February 9, 201015 yr I'm all for recycling, and I was proud to twit my in-laws from California when they visited and we had a better, more comprehensive one than they did (haw haw haw). BUT I have to say that it's funny to think that the trashiest people are going to get rewarded. I am looking forward to getting a mammoth recycling bin and using the hell out of it. Are we going to be paying more for the bins, though? If we do, we do but I would like to know up front.
February 9, 201015 yr ^ Doesn't the city pay for recycling? The exception is multi-dwelling residences over a certain size.
February 13, 201015 yr I'm all for recycling, and I was proud to twit my in-laws from California when they visited and we had a better, more comprehensive one than they did (haw haw haw). BUT I have to say that it's funny to think that the trashiest people are going to get rewarded. I am looking forward to getting a mammoth recycling bin and using the hell out of it. Are we going to be paying more for the bins, though? If we do, we do but I would like to know up front. The trash and recycling pickup are both already included in property and income taxes, I believe. Your taxes won't go up as a result of the new campaign.
February 24, 201015 yr Are we going to be paying more for the bins, though? If we do, we do but I would like to know up front. No, the new bins are free and your recycling collection service is included in the regular property taxes you already pay which will not be going up as a result.
May 19, 201411 yr <a href="http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/05/18/city-ready-trash-one-can-garbage-policy/9266955/">City ready to trash its one-can garbage policy</a> An unpopular one-garbage-can-per-house policy in the city of Cincinnati may be repealed if interim Public Services Director Gerald Checco gets his way. Cincinnati City Council adopted the policy last year to increase recycling and save money by cutting back on workers' compensation claims by garbage collectors hurt when tossing heavy loads into trucks. Those goals were accomplished, but other problems were created. Simply put: It just isn't working. The cans aren't big enough to hold the trash created by large families and too large to navigate in parts of the city where the streets are narrow or where homes sit on hillsides. Since all of us multi-family customers have already been kicked out of the City collection system and forced to hire private collection services, I am not sympathetic to the pampered homeowners who get yard waste collection, trash collection and recycling collection all free at my expense. Suck it up people and fit your garbage in one can! Jeesh.
May 19, 201411 yr There are already 10,000 extra carts sitting around unused. The city should allow people to pay a small fee for an extra can, though I’m not sure how that would work with the charter amendment. I only have two people in my house, but I make about a bag a week in trash and it barely fills up 10% of the medium size trash can. It’s the recycling and yard waste (lately) that’s been overflowing for me. I also live on one of the narrowest, steepest dead end streets I can think of and I don’t think the cans are too large. I also have to carry mine up stairs, and have no issues, but I’m not lazy. In general, I think people are just looking for something to whine about here. I used to live in NYC, where the garbage man could write you a summons for putting the wrong recyclables in the wrong colored trash bag, or mixing them up. We have it easy here since we don’t have to separate the recyclables.
May 19, 201411 yr Does Cincinnati still have the smaller 5 gallon or so recycle bins? That's not really enough; we have like 35 gallon bins up here in Seabus now. So if people are filling up that little thing fast then a lot of recyclables are winding up in the trash. I know we produce 3-4X as much recycling by volume as compared to trash. Columbus started taking away renters' 300 gallon trash cans because they weren't close to filling up. Now there's one 300 gallon per every 4 units rather than 2 and you share with your neighbors.
May 19, 201411 yr I don't know the capacity but it's the big lidded, wheeled grappling ready cans for both trash & recycling. The workers usually don't use the grappling trucks for the trash, tho & just pull the bags out of the trash can by hand leaving behind anything loose.
May 19, 201411 yr I believe they are 65 gallon recycling carts, but they only collect them every two weeks.
May 19, 201411 yr The only people who should be whining about our current trash policy are 5+ unit buildings who now must contract for their service. It's totally unfair. They receive no corresponding break in their city taxes. There are three cart sizes avaiable for recyling. http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/recycling/cart-sizes/
May 19, 201411 yr ^Also any non-profit now has to contract with private haulers. The homeless shelter I work for now has to pay over $2,000 year for trash pickup, despite paying the same property taxes we always did. That's $2,000 that won't go to programs and services for the poor. It's no wonder the family homeless shelters in town only serve 17% of the need. And I can hardly imagine what cost that's saving the city in the case of small non-profits. The city trucks still drive up the street, and it previously took them about 60 seconds to load our trash into the truck. I know it adds up, and I know there's a cost associated with landfill space, but a simple "and 501©(3) charities" tacked onto the part about trash pickup at residences would have helped us a ton. In our case, it was a transfer of a relatively small incremental cost to the city to a massive windfall for private haulers.
May 19, 201411 yr There was a time when trash removal was costing us $8 a bag at our old location. We'd throw out 2 bags of trash a week and our share of the dumpster was $62 a month. I complained to the strip mall's landlord and got it down to "only" $4. A lot of times we didn't even produce that much trash but it didn't matter.
May 19, 201411 yr ^Also any non-profit now has to contract with private haulers. The homeless shelter I work for now has to pay over $2,000 year for trash pickup, despite paying the same property taxes we always did. That's $2,000 that won't go to programs and services for the poor. It's no wonder the family homeless shelters in town only serve 17% of the need. And I can hardly imagine what cost that's saving the city in the case of small non-profits. The city trucks still drive up the street, and it previously took them about 60 seconds to load our trash into the truck. I know it adds up, and I know there's a cost associated with landfill space, but a simple "and 501©(3) charities" tacked onto the part about trash pickup at residences would have helped us a ton. In our case, it was a transfer of a relatively small incremental cost to the city to a massive windfall for private haulers. This is a bummer. Didn't know non profits were also excluded. Just seems so wasteful to not pick up at every location along a route. This seems to be a basic environmental issue. I always thought trash collection should be cheap and easy. Otherwise you encourage dumping and even hoarding of potentially toxic substances. Even e-waste is an issue.
May 19, 201411 yr <a href="http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2014/05/18/city-ready-trash-one-can-garbage-policy/9266955/">City ready to trash its one-can garbage policy</a> An unpopular one-garbage-can-per-house policy in the city of Cincinnati may be repealed if interim Public Services Director Gerald Checco gets his way. Cincinnati City Council adopted the policy last year to increase recycling and save money by cutting back on workers' compensation claims by garbage collectors hurt when tossing heavy loads into trucks. Those goals were accomplished, but other problems were created. Simply put: It just isn't working. The cans aren't big enough to hold the trash created by large families and too large to navigate in parts of the city where the streets are narrow or where homes sit on hillsides. Since all of us multi-family customers have already been kicked out of the City collection system and forced to hire private collection services, I am not sympathetic to the pampered homeowners who get yard waste collection, trash collection and recycling collection all free at my expense. Suck it up people and fit your garbage in one can! Jeesh. Yet another policy decision made by an interim director. Don't worry, we're in no rush to hire a City Manager.
November 13, 20159 yr You can now recycle the soft sided cartons (think orange juice containers, soy milk, etc) in Cincinnati: http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/recycling/news/cartons-now-accepted-in-city-recycling/
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