Keystone State recycling: Under Pennsylvania’s 29-year-old recycling law, communities with fewer than 5,000 residents aren’t required to provide curbside recycling service, but larger cities are. According to Triblive.com, as a landfill tipping fee that helps fund recycling programs gets close to expiring, some lawmakers are thinking it’s time for updates to the state recycling law.
Contract extended: Ocala, Fla. leaders approved an 18-month extension to a contract with Waste Pro of Florida to collect and sort recyclables, but it will cost the city more per household. The Ocala Star Banner reports the city will look at boosting education and other contamination-fighting strategies to bring down costs in the future.
Battery bill: A committee in the Texas House of Representatives held a hearing on a bill ushering in extended producer responsibility for batteries. House Bill 1874, which applies to both rechargeable and single-use batteries, is currently in front of the House Environmental Regulation Committee.
Coffee cup creation: Activists built a “cup monster” and paraded it outside a meeting of Starbucks shareholders, part of a push to get the coffee retailing giant to ensure its cups are recyclable. The Seattle Times reports on the recent campaign by a group called Stand.earth.
Cracking carts: Thousands of San Diego’s curbside carts are breaking each year, and a few city council members are dipping into their office funds to buy new ones for constituents who complain, according to ABS affiliate 10News. But, according to a grand jury report, that’s not fair because those funds aren’t available to citizens city wide. The controversy applies only to garbage receptacles, because San Diego has a policy of using its own funds to replace residents’ broken recycling and organics carts.
Deposit exemption bill: Maine lawmakers rejected a bill exempting large beverage containers from the state’s deposit program, according to the Fiddlehead Focus. Legislators have rejected similar beverage industry-backed proposals two others times in the last six years.
Trash talkin’: The opinion editor for The Arizona Republic blasts Phoenix’s new contract with RecycleBank, saying it’s worth trashing. Abe Kwok questions whether the outreach and promotion efforts will meaningfully move the needle on materials diversion.
Recycle-Bowl champ: Nonprofit group Keep America Beautiful has crowned a champion in last fall’s Recycle-Bowl competition: Bon Air Elementary School in Kokomo, Ind. Elementary-, middle- and high-school students compete in the annual recycling competition. Last fall, participants around the country recycled a total 2.2 million pounds of material.
Contract error: Oakland, Calif. is going to court to fix what it’s calling a “draftsman’s error” in its contract with California Waste Solutions, which collects the city’s residential recyclables. SFGate.com reports a missing line allows the company to charge up to $776 a month to collect material from plastic recycling bins at apartment complexes, a charge the city says should equal less than $28 a month.
