Curbside recycling comes to Sussex County

By M. Patricia Titus
Staff Reporter

Curbside recycling is now being offered to all Delaware residents, statewide. (Commercial pickups are not included.)

The Delaware Solid Waste Authority program offers weekly pick-up of separated recyclables right at the curb. For those who sign up for the program, DSWA will provide a special blue bin, and specifically marked and color-coded plastic bags for most recyclable materials.

The program costs $6 per month for individual customers, and local municipalities are currently being contacted by the DSWA with the possibility of signing up for town-wide services at a reduced cost around $4 per month — $1 per pick-up per property — that would likely be passed on directly to the customer in the form of a trash fee or assessment.

That could be the case in Fenwick Island, where officials greeted the news from Mayor Peter Frederick at a July 8 workshop-without-agenda with general approval. Council Members Chris Clark and Martha Keller, who serve on the town’s environmental committee, were immediately gung-ho on the idea.

“I don’t care what the problems are. We have to do it. We have to make it work, whatever it takes,” Clark said emphatically.

Will seasonal Sussex recycle as well?

There was some skepticism, though, about how the town’s seasonal population — including many week-to-week renters — would be incorporated in the plan.

“The town has to take on the responsibility to get the 3,000 people who come to Fenwick Island each summer to recycle,” Haon said. “We have a fabulous setup now, but they don’t do it,” he noted, referring to the recycling drop-off bins at town hall. “They do it at home, but not here.”

That was exactly the point, Clark said – at home, these same people had curbside recycling. They were used to it and they did it. If it was offered in Fenwick Island, he said, they would do it just as automatically.

Frederick said he estimated the town would be looking at $2,400 per month, or about $31,200 per year, in costs for all 600 properties within its limits. And an additional fee added to property owners’ garbage collection fees could be the way to ensure the program was instituted at no cost to the town, as it’s designed to be.

Frederick asked the council members to do their research on the prospect and be prepared to make a decision at their July 28 council meeting, at which time Fenwick Island could join Milford as one of the first southern Delaware towns to sign up for town-wide curbside recycling.

Just $6 per month

Even if the town chooses not to do so, residents and property owners will still have the option to sign up as individual customers, at the full $6 monthly rate. They can do so at any time, online at www.delawarerecycles.com if they have a credit card or use the PayPal service, or with a mail-in form on the DSWA brochure for the program.

Some local trash haulers around the state are also participating in the DSWA Partners in Recycling program, offering discounts to residents who sign up for the program. Residents should call their trash hauler to see if they are participating in the Partners in Recycling program and what discount may be offered to them.

Notably, for an additional $3 per month, DSWA will also pick up yard waste (up to four bags). That means a $9 monthly charge — $54, twice a year — will include collection of both standard recyclables and yard waste at the curb.

All curbside fees are collected on a semi-annual basis (six-month billing in advance) and are not subject to credit for missed pick-ups, household vacations or other resident absences.

The details

A specially marked bin, and material-specific, clearly marked bags will be provided for the items that are being accepted for curbside recycling. The items will be picked up weekly on a fixed schedule to be determined by DSWA.

Accepted materials, to be pre-divided as shown, include:

• Paper: newspapers and phone books (dry and clean) — but no junk mail, magazines, envelopes, cereal boxes or boxboard;

• Flattened corrugated cardboard: flattened appliance boxes, storage boxes — but not cereal boxes or paperboard;

• Plastic bottles: milk jugs, soda bottles, shampoo and detergent bottles (emptied and rinsed, labels can stay on but lids should be discarded) — no butter tubs, yogurt containers, Styrofoam or motor oil containers;

• Plastic grocery bags — no paper or garbage bags;

• Cans: aluminum, steel and empty aerosol cans, including food and beverage cans, pet food cans (emptied and rinsed) – no foil, pie pans, paint cans, scrap aluminum, lawn chairs, siding or doors;

• Glass: clear, brown and green, food and beverage containers only (emptied and rinsed, labels can stay on, discard lids) — no window glass, drinking glass, mirrors, Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic;

• Junk mail: office paper, glossy catalogs, magazines, glossy newspaper inserts, color paper, window envelopes, flyers (clean and dry) — no newspaper, cardboard, chipboard, paperback books, paper bags or telephone books;

• Household batteries: AAA, AA, C, D, watch, camera and hearing-aid batteries — no automobile, motorcycle, marine or lantern batteries.

As part of the service, individual marked bags are provided for many of the categories of materials, such as the clear bags for paper products and green bags for cans.

What happens to the materials?

According to DSWA, about 96 percent of the material collected is sent to markets to be recycled. “The other 4 percent is unwanted, contaminated materials,” the DSWA said. The collected materials are taken to DSWA’s Intermediate Processing Facility (IPF) in New Castle to be sorted, ensuring that the quality of material is marketable. The materials are then shipped to recycling markets.

Residents with general questions about this, or any other DSWA program, should call the Citizen’s Response Line at 1-800-404-7080 or visit www.dswa.com.