Detroit to try curbside recycling

Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Detroit -- It may be late in coming -- very late by most standards -- but Detroit is making its first major foray into recycling with a program to bring curbside service to about 30,000 households this year.

Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. announced Monday the city is ending its stigma as the largest in the United States without any form of curbside recycling, rolling out a one-year, $3.8 million pilot program to bring it to neighborhoods on the east and west sides starting in July.

The program brings the service to about 12 percent of the city's households. And if all goes well, it would be extended to all of them in two years, Cockrel said.

"We're trying to move into the 21st century and really trying to keep up with what other cities have been doing for years," Cockrel said. "For a long time, we've been talking about a curbside recycling program. These are baby steps that move us in that direction, but the important thing is we are moving in that direction."

The announcement comes 41 years after Madison, Wis., became the first city in the United States to offer curbside recycling -- and at least a decade after it became common elsewhere. The Ecology Center in Ann Arbor surveyed the nation's 30 largest cities and none except Detroit lacked any form of curbside service. Many medium-sized cities in Michigan, from Ferndale to St. Clair Shores, have offered it for years.

"It's a huge step forward for the city, even if it is a pilot program," said Brad van Guilder, a community organizer with the Ecology Center.

"For residents, they've been used to putting out any and every thing, and it gets burned. Now, they can actually participate in a positive alternative that reduces costs to the city and will actually reduce the pollution burden at the same time."

Areas picked for efforts

Some Detroit neighborhood groups have spearheaded alternative recycling efforts, and Cockrel said areas for the pilot program were selected because of their commitment.

Under the program, residents on the east side will receive a free 18-gallon bin that will be collected each week.

City residents on the west side will receive a 96-gallon container, which will be collected twice a month. Some will have a collection on the first and third Mondays; service for others will be on the second and fourth Mondays.

"The purpose of doing this as a pilot project is so ... we can really assess the feasibility of doing this on a city-wide basis," Cockrel said. "But I can tell you, doing it on a city-wide basis is the direction we want to go in."

On the east side, the program covers neighborhoods bounded by Kingsville and Mack; Kelly, Berkshire and Balfour. On the west side, it covers neighborhoods bounded by Five Points and Telegraph, the Southfield Freeway and Evergreen and West McNichols, Fenkell and Fullerton.

Nationally, about 32 percent of household trash is recycled, according to federal statistics. The recycling rate in Michigan is worse, at 20 percent compared with a 30 percent average in Great Lakes states, according to a 2006 study by the Michigan Recycling Partnership. The same study also found that Michigan communities increasingly were dropping the service because of cost concerns, with just 27 percent of them offering the service compared with 37 percent in 2001.

Neil Seldman of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C., said recycling rates increase when it becomes easier.

"As soon as the proper incentives and conveniences are put in place, recycling soars," said Seldman, who advises community groups in Detroit on recycling issues. "If it's done correctly, I could see a large jump. If Detroit is ever going to rebound from depression, recycling and composting are critical components."

Ron Brundidge, deputy director of public works in Detroit, said, "Our goal is to have 100 percent participation."

Trash fed incinerator

By city ordinance, curbside recycling was banned in the city until recently because recyclables like paper and plastic were needed to power the city's solid-waste incinerator -- the largest in the nation. But last year, the City Council decided to opt out of the deal that forced the burning of city trash.

"I wish our city government would support recycling totally and not renew the incinerator contract," said Twanna Simpson, 40, who lives in the New Center area. She works with several organizations that fight for green initiatives such as recycling.

"We can make more money recycling our trash than we can by burning it," she said. "Recycling is very important to Detroit. It would help reduce the toxins in the area and change the quality of the air."

The city, which has three recycling stations and mobile sites already, will also increase the number of drop-off areas to 16 to make it more convenient for residents. Five of them will operate daily. The city will also work to educate residents about the need to recycle.

Margaret Weber of the Rosedale Recycling said it's time for Detroit to move to a new business model of opportunity, and the city has been committed to the incinerator far too long.

"We have been urging Detroit to move to a new business model for solid waste," Weber said. "This is a new direction of being a green city. It's possible for (Detroit) just like any other urban city. (But) we had a financial commitment to the incinerator. It was perceived we didn't have any other option. We don't have to commit to burning."

dnichols@detnews.com (313) 222-2396