Cape recycling program marks 25 years, looks to future

Saturday marked 25 years since the city of Cape Girardeau began its recycling program.

The city and the League of Women Voters sponsored the original pilot program. They began with about 60 households and picked up recycling the first Wednesday of every month.

Originally, trailers were used, requiring people to separate their own materials upon pickup.

Since then, the program has evolved into single-stream curbside pickup, with the amounts collected continually increasing.

Solid waste superintendent Michael Tripp said in 2009, 2,763 households participated in the recycling program. But after implementing a simpler single-stream system, that number jumped to about 4,337 households a week.

According to information on the city of Cape Girardeau's website, the city provides residential trash service to more than 9,000 households and picks up more than 266,000 pounds of solid waste per week.

Participating households now place recyclables in a 96-gallon cart, which is emptied by two recycling trucks that operate four days a week. Glass items, which have the potential to break and contaminate cardboard or newspaper fibers, have to be separated and dropped off at fire stations, the Osage Centre or Arena Park.

In its first year, the city's solid waste department increased 65 percent of its intake, translating to 714 more tons of trash than the year before.

The city's website states the recycling program collects about 175 tons of recyclable material per month.

In addition to plastics, paper and cardboard, the city also has increased efforts in recycling larger items. In 2011, the city began working with Midwest Recycling Center to allow residents to bring items such as TVs and computer monitors to the center. They also accept items such as motor oil, paint and larger appliances. However, larger items or "special pickup items" often require a fee for disposal. For more information, visit cityofcapegirardeau.org/PublicWorks.

Looking ahead

Tripp said accurately weighing the actual amount of trash taken in each week is nearly impossible at the current transfer station. With the amount of recycling growing, he is anticipating the construction of an updated facility.

"Our scale is not in the best shape," Tripp said. "It breaks down continuously ... and was basically built totally backward. It's past its life expectancy."

The transfer station is in the 2500 block of South Sprigg Street. Because of the tight space the city is working with and a sinkhole closing down a part of South Sprigg Street, Tripp said he's excited about the new location and more effective facility the city plans to build.

The new location would be across from the city's new wastewater treatment facility on Corporate Circle, near the public works station. Tripp said there will be separate spaces for city trucks and customers to dump their trash, decreasing wait time, plus up-to-date scales and a new administration building.

The city is working with construction companies and engineers on building the new station, receiving proper permits from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and awaiting approval from the Cape Girardeau City Council.

Tripp said by August, the necessary paperwork would be completed and construction could start, and in about three weeks, it would have an accurate cost for the project.

"We're basically funding the project ourselves," Tripp said. "Part of this is done by leasing office space to public offices."

In December, the city worked out an agreement with Republic Services, a waste management company, that included hauling solid waste from the city's transfer station to the company's landfill.

In addition, Republic will be renting office space from the city, operate its hauling operation and process all solid waste from that through the new city-owned station.

Revenue generated from the solid waste processed by the city from Republic's hauling operation, in addition to lease payments from the company for using city-owned facilities, will provide enough revenue to pay for the new facility without increasing user fees.

Republic has its own hauling operation and operates out of a facility in Fruitland, which Tripp said will close when Cape Girardeau's transfer station is fully functional.

Other funding comes from fees through the transfer station and their portion of residents' monthly trash fee.

smaue@semissourian.com

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