CITY IS WORKING TO MAKE BEST OF LANDFILL MANDATE

Recycling programs in Cape Girardeau, begun last fall, have already reduced the amount of solid wastes deposited into local landfills by about 25 percent, say city officials. It's a good start. And pilot recycling programs in the city have helped. The city is trying to meet state mandates through innovative programs that don't place an excessive burden on citizens. But even with the success of these programs, more citizen participation is needed.

Though it is estimated that about 30 percent of residents participate weekly in the recycling programs, that number will have to increase if the city is to fulfill mandates to reduce the amount of solid wastes going to landfills.

A Missouri law enacted in 1990 requires that at least 40 percent of recyclable wastes be diverted from landfills by 1998. The law has already been implemented in phases, and will continue to be for the next six years.

The law gives local governments no choice; they must comply.

Since the law was enacted the city has implemented not only curb-side recycling but a series of pilot recycling programs, designed to complement the curb-side effort. The most recent of the pilot programs removes wooden pallets from the waste stream.

The city also collected residents' Christmas trees after the holidays, and pilot recycling programs were started at several apartment complexes.

It is estimated that about 175,000 pounds of materials were diverted in January from the landfill, and expansion of these pilot programs is planned.

But recycling is time consuming and expensive for cities. Twice-a-week residential refuse pickup has been replaced by a single general collection and a day for recyclable pickups. Even at that, the cost of the recycling service exceeds that of trash-collection costs.

The change received its share of criticism, mostly because some saw it as a reduction in service without a reduction in cost. But did the city have a choice? In order to reduce the amount of trash going to the landfill, it had to make recycling part of the weekly trash pickup.

The law and recycling programs make people do what they normally would rather not: think about trash. The recycling programs are voluntary now, but might not stay that way. Adjustments in the way we think and act are necessary, and that's not always easy. Neither is paying more in trash collection fees to allow cities to continue recycling programs.

But the city has made it convenient to recycle, in the hope that it becomes a habit for more than 30 percent of the city's residents.

Five types of materials are accepted: clean, dry newspapers tied into bundles or bagged, corrugated cardboard boxes flattened into bundles; rinsed glass with the lids or caps removed; any rinsed plastic container with a recycling logo on the bottom with lids and caps removed; and all types of aluminum.

A citywide compost service was also launched in January, to provide for a mandate that prohibits yard waste such as grass clippings and leaves in landfills.

Recycling in one way looks cut and dry: it's something we must live with and pay for whether we like it or not. And just because we'd rather not think about trash at all, it's not going to disappear.

Residents who have yet to give recycling a try should make that effort.