To recycle in Dunedin, pitch in $5

If enough residents send in the deposit, a curbside system will be launched that they can subscribe to.

By LEON M. TUCKER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 20, 2002

DUNEDIN -- If residents show enough interest in it, a subscription-based curbside recycling program could begin in Dunedin by the end of the year.

Solid waste officials will use inserts distributed next month with bimonthly utility bills to ask residents for a $5 deposit to sign up for curbside recycling.

The money would go toward the purchase of a recycling container. If at least 3,500 of the city's 12,000 households send in $5, service would begin immediately, according to solid waste officials.

"Some cities do curbside recycling throughout the city, but everyone pays for it," said Bob Brotherton, director of public works. "We'd rather go with a system where people would pay for what they get -- or at least explore the idea."

Households who opt to use the service will likely be charged an additional $5 every two months to have once-a-week collection of old newspapers, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, steel cans, magazines and clear glass.

Largo has had one-day-a-week curbside pickup service since the early 1990s. The city charges each household about $1 per month for the service, whether the household uses it or not.

Dunedin residents have six months from when they receive notice to sign up. If the city does not receive enough interest, it will refund deposits from households that registered. Once the program is launched, residents can continue to sign up.

The city's tab for the service is estimated at about $105,000 per year.

Solid waste officials say they believe interest is high. They base that on feedback on recyling from the 1,500 residents who participated in the city's five-month trial run of a new automated trash pickup last fall.

"We did some survey earlier and we had a 35 percent positive response to curbside service," said Randy Rudd, solid waste director. "And if those numbers hold true (citywide), then we expect to meet that (3,500) mark."

Dunedin now has a voluntary recycling program in which interested residents have to drive to a dropoff center at the pool at Highlander Park on Michigan Avenue or at 810 Lake Haven Road, behind the solid waste facility.

"I like what we do now because I think we are doing a very good job of recycling," Brotherton said. "However, I think we should give people options if we can pay for it."

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