Fayetteville Looks To Expand Apartment Recycling

Stephanie Kellner, left, holds her 2-year-old son, August, so he can deposit paper into a recycling container Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, at The Cliffs, an apartment complex in east Fayetteville. The City of Fayetteville is launching a program that will allow citizens who live in apartments to recycle using containers that are currently being rotated between five area complexes. "I saw this yesterday and I was so happy," said Kellner.

Stephanie Kellner, left, holds her 2-year-old son, August, so he can deposit paper into a recycling container Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011, at The Cliffs, an apartment complex in east Fayetteville. The City of Fayetteville is launching a program that will allow citizens who live in apartments to recycle using containers that are currently being rotated between five area complexes. "I saw this yesterday and I was so happy," said Kellner.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE — The city’s Solid Waste and Recycling Division will work this year to provide recycling services at more apartments.

Recyclables are picked up at five of 35 complexes with 100 or more units, according to Brian Pugh, waste reduction coordinator.

At A Glance

Apartment Recycling

The five apartment complexes receiving recycling service from the city.

• The Links at Fayetteville: 3600 W. Players Lane

• Maple Manor: 3001 W. Wedington Drive

• North Creekside: 1764 N. Leverett Ave.

• Hill Place: 754 S. Royal Oaks Parkway

• The Cliffs: 2400 E. Cliffs Blvd.

Source: City Of Fayetteville

A key component of increasing the diversion rate, the percentage of material diverted from the landfill, is getting more apartments to participate in the program. More than half of Fayetteville’s residents are renters, but for years few recycling options have been available for apartment dwellers.

City officials hope to provide recycling service to 30 percent of apartment units by 2015.

“We’re focusing on complexes with 100 or more units in size and that have space where we can set containers,” Pugh said Friday.

According to Pugh, the city used grants from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality in 2011 and 2012 to buy 12 large containers, where residents can throw plastics, aluminum, steel cans and paper.

Four of the containers in April and May were placed at The Links at Fayetteville, Maple Manor, Hill Place and North Creekside Apartments. One container is positioned on Monday near the clubhouse at The Cliffs apartments off Crossover Road, but it’s removed the next day. City officials hope to permanently place seven more containers this year.

Containers used to rotate between the five participating apartment complexes.

Kendra Butterfield, property manager at North Creekside Apartments, said having a container in place throughout the week makes it easier for tenants to recycle.

“Visually, it’s something that people see all the time,” Butterfield said. “They’re more apt to use it than if you give them a time limit.”

People who live in nearby apartment complexes come to North Creekside to recycle, Butterfield said.

The service costs the complex 95 cents per unit per month, or about $185 for North Creekside’s 195 units. The apartments’ owners don’t get any money in return, but they stand to save on regular trash pickup if more material is put in the recycling bin. Recycling is something they can promote to prospective tenants, too.

“I think nowadays recycling is becoming more popular,” Butterfield said. “People are asking about it.”

According to Pugh, the city collected 54 tons of recyclables from apartments last year. He said each ton fetched an average of $105 in 2012. If the same held true last year, that’s roughly $5,700 from apartment recycling.

Total recycling tonnage wasn’t available Friday, but, according to the city’s website, 4,227 tons were collected through the first nine months of 2013.

Pugh said he would like to see apartment numbers improve as more complexes — and tenants — participate.

“I still don’t think we’re getting near what we should,” he said. “There’s definitely room for growth.”

Pugh said a $30,000 grant from the Environmental Quality Department is aimed at increasing participation. The grant will pay for bags or bins that tenants can put in their apartments and use to carry recyclables to the outdoor containers.

“We’ve got an outdoor bin they can use, but there’s nothing that prompts them to recycle within their unit,” Pugh said.

He said more education is needed, too, to prevent co-mingling, especially among plastic products.

Residents who live at apartment complexes where recyclables aren’t collected can take material to three drop-off centers in the city. The centers are at 1420 S. Happy Hollow Road, 735 North St. and at Ozark Natural Foods, 1554 N. College Ave.

Pugh said apartment owners interested in receiving city recycling service can contact the Solid Waste and Recycling Division.