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Curbside recycling put back on scrap heap

The curbside plan is dead in St. Petersburg after the city gets no vendors to bid on a subscription service.

By CARRIE WEIMAR
Published April 18, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Environmentalists lost their bid last year for a citywide curbside recycling program, settling instead for a promise that the city would pursue a subscription-based service.

Now, even that plan is dead.

City officials asked several companies to bid on the contract, but none expressed any interest. So they've decided to drop the issue.

"I think we've talked it to death," said council chairman Bill Foster.

St. Petersburg is the largest city in Florida that does not offer curbside recycling. In Pinellas County, only Redington Shores and parts of the unincorporated county do not offer the service.

The council has struggled with curbside service for years.

In 2002, a council subcommittee conducted a survey to gauge support and found 88 percent of St. Petersburg residents would participate. But the number dropped to 40 percent when asked if they would pay for the service.

The committee members dropped the issue because it was unlikely recycling would pay for itself unless residents who didn't want to support it were forced to contribute.

Last year, a group called the First Progressive Club of St. Petersburg brought the issue back to the council. Council members first said they wouldn't take it up again, then decided to look into a subscriptions, where only those who want to participate would have to pay for curbside service.

Chuck Schauer, St. Petersburg's director of sanitation, said the city solicited 11 vendors, but none was interested.

"For what they were going to have to charge, there wouldn't have been enough people to make it worth it for them to bring their equipment into the city," Schauer said.

Most localities offer universal recycling, where every household is asked to contribute to the cost. With a subscription plan, only those who want the service would pay for it.

The cost difference is dramatic. While universal recycling costs about $2 or $3 per month, subscriptions would cost at least $6.

In St. Petersburg, "it may be a long way between homes who want recycling, so they'd be driving all over the city," Schauer said.

City officials are instead looking at ways to improve the city's dropoff recycling sites, including allowing the recycling of construction materials. A report will be presented to the council in June, Schauer said.

Cathy Harrelson, chairwoman of the Suncoast Group of the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, said her organization wasn't crazy about subscription-based recycling in the first place.

"But it was at least a step in the right direction," she said.

Harrelson said residents regularly complain to her about the lack of curbside service. The city's reluctance is particularly troubling considering it is pursuing a "Green Cities" designation, which recognizes environmentally friendly cities, Harrelson added.

She said the Sierra Club plans to start pushing for curbside recycling.

"People see this as something our organization should pursue and the city really needs to get behind," Harrelson said.

But council member Richard Kriseman said mandatory recycling could be a hard sell. With recent increases in sanitation and sewer fees, many people may be reluctant to pay an additional $3 per month.

"If it were free, people would use it," said Kriseman, a Democrat who is also running for the state House of Representatives. "But at this point, I would have a hard time supporting it being mandatory."

--Carrie Weimar can be reached at 727 892-2273 or cweimar@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 18, 2006, 01:48:05]