OFFICIALS: IT MAY BE COSTLY, BUT RECYCLING CRUCIAL

SCOTT CITY--Twice a week, trash bags and cans line the curbs of Scott City's streets waiting to be picked up. And if the city gets state approval, a recycling bin will soon find its way to some of those very same curbs.

Scott City recently applied for a $100,000 recycling grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The city hopes to buy a recycling truck and build a temporary processing center with the grant money. According to the application, the city will accept paper, plastic and glass items through a curbside program.

Scott City disposes of 2,500 tons of solid waste each year and under the recycling program about 375 tons would be eliminated from area landfills.

With only 30 landfills in the state, the Missouri legislation hopes to enforce stricter landfill construction requirements. In 1991, the Bootheel Solid Waste Management District was formed to help cities and counties in Southeast Missouri reduce waste.

The district helps cities in six counties implement recycling programs, said Dave Dirks, solid waste planner for the district.

"We work on the different facets of reduction," Dirks said. "It's hard to say how much we've reduced since we've been in operation." He estimates that there has been a 20 percent reduction since 1991 because the landfills have banned yard waste, tires and appliances.

"We took part of it away, but that doesn't make it go away," Dirks said. Many smaller towns find it difficult to plan and implement waste reduction programs because the areas are sparsely populated.

Another problem these towns face is a limited budget. But Scott City Administrator John Saxton hopes to take advantage of the grant programs available through DNR.

"We are in an ideal position because we can piggyback on facilities in the area," Saxton said. However, the city will not be notified about the status of its application until the fall.

Other towns in the county don't have a recycling or waste reduction program in place. Many solid waste contractors are aware of the DNR regulation and have taken steps to reduce landfill trash by offering recycling to some customers.

Markets are opening up for recycled materials, Dirks said.

"It keeps getting more expensive to sack up and haul it to a landfill," he said. Some area solid waste contractors have applied for grants or have begun recycling programs.

"We work with them and hope it evolved into recycling rather than just waste haulers," Dirks said.

BFI Recyclery on Nash Road will accept Scott City's materials if the grant is accepted, Saxton said. Scott City officials hope start-up costs for the recycling program will be lower because of the proximity to a recycling center. Knowing there was a center as close as the airport made this program a do-able project, Saxton said.

Kathy Weinsaft, DNR chief of solid waste planning, compared waste reduction programs to dieting and weight loss.

"Those first 10 pounds got off easy but it gets harder as you go along," she said. "The first percents are easier."

In fact, Missouri reduced its solid waste by 17.3 percent from 1990 to 1993.

"Rural communities have done very well by building on their own strength," Weinsaft said.

Smaller communities tend to see recycling as an economic development activity that keeps the momentum.

The best way to manage waste is to not produce it in the first place, Weinsaft said.

But Scott City, Jackson and Cape Girardeau continue to produce trash. The city's solid waste department collects 145 tons of trash a day. And it costs almost $3,300 to dispose of that waste from the surrounding area.

It costs almost $23 a ton to haul the waste to a landfill near Dexter, said Solid Waste Coordinator Steve Willis.

Cape Girardeau does have a curbside recycling program for residents. About 2,491,250 pounds of recyclable material have been collected from July to April, he said.

In 1972, the state only had 11 recycling centers. Now there are 350, according to DNR statistics.