FAYETTEVILLE -- The city took the first step toward revamping its approach to solid waste and has many more to go.
The Water, Sewer and Solid Waste Committee on Tuesday got an introduction to the long-awaited Solid Waste Reduction, Diversion and Recycling Master Plan from Florida-based Kessler Consulting, Inc. Aldermen Mark Kinion, Sarah Marsh, John La Tour and Martin Schoppmeyer Jr. sit on the committee.
Read the report
bit.ly/faytrashmasterplan
The consulting firm's president, Mitch Kessler, and the report's author, Robin Mitchell, gave a 30-minute presentation highlighting the 111-page plan. The City Council in December 2013 set a goal to divert 80 percent of Fayetteville's waste from landfill to recycling, reuse or composting by 2025.
Several community and regional meetings followed involving members of the public, property owners, businesses, regional groups and the University of Arkansas.
The city's diversion rate, or percentage of waste that ends up somewhere other than a landfill, has fluctuated between 16 percent to 20 percent since 2006, according to the consultant's statistics.
"What (you) weren't seeing was any real growth," Mitchell said. "Honestly, that's why you hired us."
The city recovered more than 6,000 tons of recyclable material last year, comprising 18 percent of what actually went to recycle and compost. The rest of the recyclable material, such as paper and containers, compostables and bulky waste, went to landfill, Mitchell said.
The plan offers a series of solutions with several steps over phases. The most ambitious aspects would bring commercial food waste and single-stream recycling programs to the city.
The commercial food waste pilot program had nine participants from January to June, collecting 69 tons of food, according to the report. Participants included six restaurants, an elementary school, the Senior Activity Center and the University of Arkansas.
Brian Pugh, city waste reduction coordinator, said it normally takes 4 to 6 months to create marketable compost. Material from the food waste pilot program took 2 months and didn't require turning, he said.
The single-stream recycling pilot was held for 12 weeks at the Cliffs II and Academy at Frisco apartment complexes.
"It is not mixing garbage with recycling," Mitchell said. "It is mixing recyclables in the same collection container."
The difference of single-stream lies in the processing of materials. Rather than sanitation crews sorting plastics from paper and other materials at the curb, everything would be separated at a facility.
The amount of materials collected for recycling basically doubled during the pilot, from 2 tons to just more than 4 tons, according to the firm's data. Pickup time also drastically reduced from 62 seconds to service each cart to 7 seconds.
The key with single-stream is removing barriers that keep people from recycling in the first place, like having to sort materials or take them to a site away from home, Mitchell said.
A single-stream program would require a new processing facility. The plan estimates the cost for such a facility at about $3.8 million.
Single-stream facilities typically catch more recyclable materials, but the contamination rate is higher, making for a lower return at market, Kessler said. A state-of-the art facility usually sees about 15 percent of its materials contaminated, he said.
The City Council must discuss the plan before anything can happen. It's tentatively scheduled to take up the matter at its Dec. 6 meeting, Transportation Director Terry Gulley said.
The first phase of the proposed plan calls for construction of a new facility, and residential, multi-family and commercial single-stream recycling to take effect by next year.
Mayor Lioneld Jordan said he didn't see a feasible way for that to happen.
The city first has to hear public comments and commit to a plan. Jordan wanted plenty of time to hear feedback.
"It's an interesting study, and I think it's going to be an interesting conversation," he said.
The proposal would put the city at a 50 percent diversion rate by 2025. Getting to the 80 percent goal will require taking the plan in increments and evaluating every step of the way, Jordan said.
Jordan expects a lengthy process before ground could be broken on a new facility and an unknown amount of time until its completion. The facility would have to happen first before any implementation of the new plan, according to the consultants.
"As soon as I get direction from that City Council, we go to work," Jordan said.
NW News on 09/28/2016