The city’s 2021 waste diversion rate stands at 39.2%, up from 2020’s 38.5% – and significantly above the national average of 32%.
SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): When it comes to waste management, Bowling Green is experiencing the sweet smell of success. The city’s waste diversion rate is up and the cost of recycling is down. Amanda Gamby, the city’s sustainability and public outreach coordinator, presented the First Half-2022 Waste Diversion Report to council’s sustainability committee on Tuesday. “Looks like a lot of good news,” said the committee’s chair, Councilman Jeff Dennis.
The city’s 2021 waste diversion rate stands at 39.2%, up from 2020’s 38.5% – and significantly above the national average of 32%. Currently, municipal solid waste and recycling is collected curbside from just over 5,700 one and two-family dwellings in the city each week. The material is taken to the Wood County landfill for disposal at a price of $40 per ton. With recycling, since the start of 2020, according to Gamby’s report, all mixed recycling is delivered to a transfer station in Toledo and then transported to a material recovery facility operated by Republic Services Inc. in Oberlin.
“We continue to do that,” Gamby said of recycling. “It continues to work well. We continue to operate with the expanded list of materials that broadened the list of plastics we were allowed to take … and of course allows us to take glass again curbside.” Instead of a flat rate, the city is billed per ton for recycling, which fluctuates on a monthly basis but the cost is averaging $100/ton, which is a decrease of $30/ton compared to this time last year, according to the report.
Courtesy: www.wasteadvantage.com
