Curbside Pickup

After 32 years of service and recognition as the oldest continuing recycling center in the country, the Susquehannock Environmental Center on North Tollgate Road will close this month. A combination of waning profits, declining service and overall fatigue finally took its toll, causing the board to vote to close the center, said Clifton Dowling, head of the board of directors. "As a board, we're tired," Dowling said after noting that since the country curbside pickup program went into effect in 1994, the center has seen a steady decline of recyclable material.

Just a reminder for those keen on "green" living that Christmas trees make great mulch.  Residents of Anne Arundel , Baltimore and eastern Howard counties can simply put their trees out for curbside collection in early January with other recyclables. Or, if they prefer (or miss the pickup window), they can take the trees to various drop off locations for grinding up into mulch. Folks living in Harford and western Howard counties can drop off their trees for recycling at local landfills or other sites.  Carroll County has offered the same drop off service in prior years for residents of non-incorporated areas there - town dwellers may also have curbside pickup.  Click on the links above for information about your local jurisdiction, drop off locations, pickup dates and other details.

Just a reminder for those keen on "green" living that Christmas trees make great mulch.  Residents of Anne Arundel , Baltimore and eastern Howard counties can simply put their trees out for curbside collection in early January with other recyclables. Or, if they prefer (or miss the pickup window), they can take the trees to various drop off locations for grinding up into mulch. Folks living in Harford and western Howard counties can drop off their trees for recycling at local landfills or other sites.  Carroll County has offered the same drop off service in prior years for residents of non-incorporated areas there - town dwellers may also have curbside pickup.  Click on the links above for information about your local jurisdiction, drop off locations, pickup dates and other details.

It's America Recycles Day , so listen up: The secret's out about a little-known municipal service offered to Baltimore City businesses - free and practically unlimited single-stream recycling. “The key advantage to business single-stream recycling is that firms can eliminate up to 50 percent of their trash costs when they shift from costly garbage collection to free recycling,” according to Robert Murrow, Baltimore City's recycling coordinator. Though the Department of Public Works web site appears to limit free recycling to  "small businesses in residential areas," Murrow said in reality the city will pick up recyclables for free from businesses of all sizes, no matter where they are. Those firms generating enough recyclables to regularly fill a dumpster or in need of more than once-weekly collection can arrange that with the department, he said.  As a practical matter, DPW draws the line at picking up more than three times a week, he added, so any establishments needing that much service ought to hire a private processor.

Carroll County Recycling Operations says residents' Christmas trees are recyclable. Trees will be ground up for mulch, and free mulch is available at county landfills.In return for recycling the Christmas tree, residents will receive a coupon for a free seedling, which can be redeemed in April. Remove all tinsel and ornaments from trees before taking them to be recycled.Here is a list of county Christmas tree recycling drop-off locations:* Northern Landfill, Route 140, Westminster; any time.

Now that the holidays are over, the Carroll County government is urging residents to take advantage of recycling for trees, wrapping paper, boxes and other items.Recyclable items include nonmetallic wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, greeting cards, No. 1 and No. 2 plastic bottles, glass and aluminum cans.Items can be picked up by trash haulers or brought to the Recycling Center at Northern Landfill on Route 140, Westminster, from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

A popular recycling center in the Catonsville area is closing, because its volunteers say they are short of help and frustrated by a lack of information on when Baltimore County will expand curbside pickup of recyclable trash to more homes.The Evening Sun wants to know if you think government has been slow to react to a demand by residents for curbside recycling, and would you be willing to pay more in taxes to hasten the start of curbside pickup in your community?To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL, the Baltimore Sun's directory of telephone information services, at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County)

The public can learn more about a county proposal to increase the cost of trash disposal to residents and businesses by up to 45 percent during two informational meetings.The meetings are set for 7 p.m. tomorrow and Monday. Officials from the county Department of Utilities will answer questions about the need for a $40 increase in the annual charge for curbside pickup and a $5 increase in the tipping fee charged to commercial haulers for every ton of refuse they deposit at a county landfill.

More than 15 tons of used telephone books have been collected in this year's recycling program, and county officials are still counting. The curbside pickup program, which began Oct. 25, will continue through Dec. 17.Last year, the first year for the cooperative program between Harford County and Bell Atlantic, yielded 24 tons of phone books for recycling, according to Becky Joesting-Hahn of the county's environmental affairs division.She said this year's program has been extended into December to allow for the collection of Baltimore-area directories as well as Harford County books.

Editor's note: What follows are some of the responses we received tothe survey, "How Should Harford Recycle?" that appeared in the Harford County Sun March 3.Mandate recyclingFrom: Laurie TurnerJoppaI would favor mandatory curbside recycling. At the very least, I would like to see more available drop-off receptacles for recyclables in my immediate area.Yes to curbside pickupFrom: Nancy FairallBel AirI favor the curbsidepickup of recyclables. Those who choose not to sort should pay a higher rate for trash removal.

Baltimore will continue to offer free curbside bulk trash collection through June 30, 2012, the Department of Public Works confirmed Friday. The city's tight budget led DPW to review whether a fee should be charged for bulk trash pickup during this fiscal year. In mid-October, DPW spokeswoman Celeste Amato said that a fee would be unlikely before fiscal 2012. Baltimore residents will receive notice of any changes in bulk trash service, DPW said. To schedule bulk pickup, residents should call 311 at least three days prior to their neighborhood's regular bulk collection day. No more than three items will be collected for a single residence.

Harford County will begin single-stream recycling in September, officials announced, allowing residents to dispose of bottles, cans, paper and other recyclables in a single curbside container. Officials expect the ease of single-stream collection to increase participation in recycling. They say the move will save the county about $400,000 annually. Baltimore County has seen recycling increase by a third since beginning single-stream collection in February, officials there say. Trash generation is down by more than 4 percent, which Baltimore County officials say will lead to savings of more than $600,000 annually.

From real estate contracts to marketing materials for homes, Long & Foster Real Estate in Edgewater uses a lot of paper. Rather than toss out about five reams of paper waste a week, employees load the waste into the car of a co-worker, who takes it home and dumps it into her recycling bin. Anne Arundel County does not pick up recycling for businesses, forcing them to make similar efforts or pay for a private service. That will soon change as the county begins its first curbside recycling program for small businesses, allowing them to pay as little as $75 a year for weekly service.

After 32 years of service and recognition as the oldest continuing recycling center in the country, the Susquehannock Environmental Center on North Tollgate Road will close this month. A combination of waning profits, declining service and overall fatigue finally took its toll, causing the board to vote to close the center, said Clifton Dowling, head of the board of directors. "As a board, we're tired," Dowling said after noting that since the country curbside pickup program went into effect in 1994, the center has seen a steady decline of recyclable material.

It appears Baltimore's budget woes have laid waste to another victim: curbside recycling of bottles, cans and other plastics, glass and metals. The city plans to discontinue the pickup of so-called "blue bags" of bottles and cans by June 30, saving more than $500,000 during the next fiscal year, officials said yesterday. Curbside recycling was a major goal of local environmental and community activists for years before the program started in 1990. Recycling pickup of mixed paper will not be affected by the cut, and the city will maintain drop-off sites for glass, plastic and metal.

The Harford County Council has confirmed the appointment of Wilson R. Rutherford III as head of the county's Department of Procurement.County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann named Mr. Rutherford to replace John J. O'Neill Jr., who took over as warden of the Harford County Detention Center last month.Mr. Rutherford, a retired Army colonel who spent two years as commander of support activity at Aberdeen Proving Ground, most recently was director of the Maryland International Division of the state Department of Economic and Employment Development.

Trash hauling companies doing business here want to know what changes the county might make to meet the state-mandated goal of recycling 15 percent of its solid waste by 1994."

The confusion over recycling progress, as counties push t meet state goals by Jan. 1, continues to confound a well-intentioned public. Are Marylanders laggards in turning in recyclables, or are they doing their best under the circumstances?Take the situation in the city of Annapolis, where curbside recycling collections began nearly three years ago. The city can honestly boast that its recycling rate is a respectable 20 percent.But that is only for the 8,400 city homes with municipal trash pickup; if the 5,000 multiple-family dwellings without the service are included, the estimated rate drops to a dismal 7 1/2 percent.

Now that the holidays are over, the Carroll County government is urging residents to take advantage of recycling for trees, wrapping paper, boxes and other items.Recyclable items include nonmetallic wrapping paper, cardboard boxes, greeting cards, No. 1 and No. 2 plastic bottles, glass and aluminum cans.Items can be picked up by trash haulers or brought to the Recycling Center at Northern Landfill on Route 140, Westminster, from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

Carroll County Recycling Operations says residents' Christmas trees are recyclable. Trees will be ground up for mulch, and free mulch is available at county landfills.In return for recycling the Christmas tree, residents will receive a coupon for a free seedling, which can be redeemed in April. Remove all tinsel and ornaments from trees before taking them to be recycled.Here is a list of county Christmas tree recycling drop-off locations:* Northern Landfill, Route 140, Westminster; any time.