Immediate Release: S.A.V.E. to host a final plastics drive March 14th to 17th; S.A.V.E.
pleased to see community
partnership yield to permanent program at City of Helena
Transfer Station
Contact:
Thad Adkins, Board of
Directors
The S.A.V.E. Foundation
406.422.2482
Tyler Evilsizer, Chair
The S.A.V.E. Foundation
406.202.1723
Helena, Mont. The Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment Foundation (S.A.V.E.)
has coordinated a community partnership for recycling plastics in Helena for
the past 8 years, providing free collection for plastics during a four day
period starting on the second Friday of odd numbered months.
“The community support has
been amazing,” notes S.A.V.E. Board member Thad Adkins, “but the event is
simply too large to be safe with winter weather, wind, and even rain and lightning
in the summer.” Thousands of area residents utilize S.A.V.E.’s Plastics Drives
and find themselves out in the cold when dutifully recycling or at a loss when
they can’t make a plastics drive. This month’s drive was able to avoid icy
conditions thanks to plowing and sanding by General Services of the State of
Montana, but extreme winds persisted throughout the entire drive. Transitioning
to a drop-off program would no longer require large numbers of people and
vehicles to congregate over a long weekend, especially during adverse weather
events.
S.A.V.E. is committed to
ensuring a smooth transition to a permanent program. Following yesterday’s City
of Helena Commission administrative meeting, that goal is now in sight. The City
Commission endorsed a staff proposal to incorporate plastics recycling within a
two to three month timeline that will include leasing or acquiring compactor
units to collect three versions of plastics. This step will provide residents
with a service similar to current plastics drives, but on a daily basis during
operational hours at the City of Helena Transfer Station. Thad Adkins committed
S.A.V.E.’s support to help educate the public on the new program. As a
transition measure, S.A.V.E. will host a final drive March 14th to 17th at the parking lot of 1100 N
Last Chance Gulch. S.A.V.E. will also distribute materials about the transition
to a city operated program during that event.
After a staff presentation and
through commission and public discussion, the City Commission gave a green light
on the proposal including exploring cost-saving measures by starting with a
provisional program. City staff will look at alternative power sources
including the possibility of
leasing a generator, the use of used equipment, compactors
retired from waste service
that can still work for recycling, and alternative locations within the
transfer station for the program.
Several attendees at the meeting raised concerns about taking
action ahead of a joint study by the City of Helena and Lewis & Clark
Scratch Gravel Waste District to be conducted this spring and summer. However,
Tri-County Sanitation offered continued support noting they could look into
making available equipment and hauling services they currently provide for S.A.V.E.
drives. Such support would allow the City to hold off on making capital
investments for plastics recycling before the study findings are known. Thad
Adkins noted that an interim program would generate valuable data for use in
the comprehensive program study.
Mayor Smith and Commissioner
Ellison voiced support in moving forward with the
program. Mayor Smith, noting
that while S.A.V.E. is continuing the bi-monthly drive, would have had their
final drive in November “if they had their druthers” and his role as Mayor is to
move things forward. He also noted that many City programs, be they public
transportation, the Civic
Center, or other public services do not break even. Commissioner Ellison agreed
with the Mayor but mentioned he was pleased to see that the staff proposal showed
substantial revenues that may approach breaking even, and that many associated costs
of plastics recycling could be recovered over time. Commissioner Ellison stated
that, “recycling plastic has strong community support, and high public
expectations, and the alternatives outlined by staff need only a little more
work to get a program underway.”
In his support, Commissioner
Elsaesser’s memo noted that the market value of the three
plastic stream collection
would rise substantially if clear Type-1 trays (clam shell trays that have
fruit) were collected with Type 2 colored plastics (detergent bottles). The
resulting collection of Type 1 clear bottles, Type 2 clear milk jugs, while the
#1 Tray and Color #2 mix would also maximize the capacity of the city
compactors.
Per the staff assessment of
plastics market values on January 14th, it was determined that
compacting the plastics at
Pacific Steel & Recycling in Helena would likely be the best
option, either selling the
plastic to Pacific or paying a processing fee and selling to different venders.
Based on current resale values, Type 1 clear, without trays, would yield more
per pound. With # 1 clear and # 2 clear making up the majority of plastic
currently collected at S.A.V.E. events, a viable program that can recover capital
expenses, and offset collection and hauling costs, can be established.
“This is a great day for
recycling in Helena,” notes S.A.V.E. Chair Tyler Evilsizer, ”The
longstanding community
partnerships have shown Helena’s commitment to recycling and the market for
source separated plastics.” The City program takes the lessons learned from the
events and overcomes the two main challenges to recycling plastics. Compacting
plastics with compactors will overcome the large volume of plastics needed to
make market ready bales; a controlled site at the Transfer Station will allow
for quality control.
“We want to especially thank
our longstanding partners who have made this possible” says Evilsizer, “The
City of Helena, Tri-County Sanitation, General Services of the State of Montana,
Pacific Steel & Recycling, and the Montana Beverage Association are the
primary partners, with Carroll College and A-1 Rentals providing additional
support.
S.A.V.E. also looks forward to
the comprehensive review of the City and County waste
collection systems. The study,
which will look at all operations including the transfer station, residential
and commercial collection, and recycling, will focus on integration of the
system. As noted in the Helena Independent Record on October 4, 1993 by then
City Manager William Verwolf, the public collection setup back then was
envisioned to include recycling. “Twenty years later, plastics is a new item
ready to join the mix” continues Evilsizer.
“Most of all, S.A.V.E. wants
to thank the thousands of community members and the hundreds of volunteers who’ve
sustained this program,” concluded Evilsizer. “We have put several hundred
thousand pounds of plastics back into the economy with every pound saving the
equivalent of a gallon of gas.” More information about the upcoming drive and
future of plastics recycling is available at Savemobile.org or by calling
S.A.V.E. at 449-6008.
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