Recycling Rate

Howard County residents are recycling more than ever, but the economics of the county's recycling program have grown HTC shaky, according to the county's annual report on recycling released this week.Howard's recycling rate climbed to 32.3 percent in 1996, a record, thanks to a surge in recycling after County Executive Charles I. Ecker imposed a limit of four cans a week on trash collection last summer.But higher costs for recyclables -- combined with lower costs at landfills -- have called the economics of recycling into question.

Harford environmental officials last week gave the County Council a glowing progress report on recycling efforts in the county, including evidence that the county has exceeded state minimum requirements.Robert Ernst, recycling coordinator, told council members that the county recycled an average 25.36 percent of its waste in 1994. That is 5 percent more than the state requires.The Maryland Recycling Act of 1988 ordered each county with a population of more than 150,000 to develop a plan to reduce its solid waste stream by 20 percent through recycling by the start of last year.

Carroll's recycling rate climbed above 17 percent in March, but county officials warned that curbside recycling could become mandatory this year unless efforts improve."

Mount Airy, which recycles 40 percent of its trash, has won recognition from the Maryland Recyclers Coalition for "bringing recycling to a small community."Four years ago, the Mount Airy Town Council formed a citizens recycling committee to spearhead community recycling efforts.The committee worked with officials in Frederick and Carroll counties to get drop-off recycling bins placed throughout the town to collect clear and colored glass, aluminum cans and plastic. The town straddles the Frederick-Carroll border.

Local trash haulers, worried about an ordinance that would allow the county commissioners to make recycling mandatory, aired their concerns yesterday at a workshop on the proposal.County officials, including County Attorney Charles W. Thompson Jr., Public Works Director Keith Kirschnick and Recycling Manager Vinnie Legge, were on hand to answer questions.Proposed by the commissioners in August, the ordinance would give them the authority to enact a mandatory recycling program if the county's recycling rate drops too low. Currently, the county has a voluntary curbside recycling program.

Mount Airy, which recycles 40 percent of its trash, has won recognition from the Maryland Recyclers Coalition for "bringing recycling to a small community."Four years ago, the Mount Airy Town Council formed a citizens recycling committee to spearhead community recycling efforts.The committee worked with officials in Frederick and Carroll counties to get drop-off recycling bins placed throughout the town to collect clear and colored glass, aluminum cans and plastic. The town straddles the Frederick-Carroll border.

Carroll's recycling rate climbed to 16 percent in August, up from 13 percent in July, county officials reported yesterday.The county's overall recycling rate for the first eight months of 1993 was 20.3 percent, up from about 17 percent for the first six months, said Comptroller Eugene C. Curfman.Mr. Curfman credited the high rate to the fact that yard waste is being composted, a form of recycling, instead of being buried with other refuse at Carroll landfills. He also said more businesses have been reporting their recycling efforts to the county.

Residents of Carroll towns are recycling nearly triple the percentage of newspapers, cans, bottles and plastic than that of their rural counterparts, county officials said yesterday.During the first four months of 1993, town residents recycled 24 percent of their trash; other Carroll residents recycled 9 percent, said County Comptroller Eugene C. Curfman."The towns certainly are helping the county recycling rate. If their percentages weren't where they are, we would be hurting," Mr. Curfman said.

Harford County this month completes the first year of its recycling program with a success rate that already meets the 1994 state goal of 20 percent. Buddy Blue Bag, the program's overstuffed mascot, would split a seam.But there is an asterisk attached. The county got the 21 percent grade only with the help of an automatic 5 percent bonus for having the waste-to-energy incinerator in Magnolia.Still, the countywide program is collecting one-third more recyclable material than it did a year ago, over 200 tons a week.

Barn fire is arson, fire marshal saysA fire that destroyed a 30-by-60-foot metal pole barn northwest of Manchester last week was declared arson by the state fire marshal's office Friday, said Bob Thomas, chief deputy state fire marshal.The fire, in the 3700 block of Back Woods Road, was discovered shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday by a neighbor, who said he who saw his cow run through a wire fence as it apparently tried to escape dense smoke from the barn.Farm equipment stored in the barn was destroyed in the blaze, which also scorched a larger barn about 25 feet away and burned some brush across a driveway.

Baltimore County officials are patting themselves on the back for moving toward single-stream recycling, the radical idea that you could put paper, bottles and cans out at the same time. They say this simplification will add to county residents' already impressive recycling performance - as of the Maryland Department of the Environment's last report, Baltimore County's recycling rate was No. 1 in the state. But in truth, the recycling program in the region's most populous subdivision isn't all it's cracked up to be. For starters, the impressive 62 percent recycling rate has a lot to do with the presence of Bethlehem Steel, which recycles some pretty heavy stuff.

The Baltimore County Council unanimously adopted a 10-year solid-waste management plan last night that included several recommendations aimed at fostering recycling. The result of a lengthy public participation process, the plan is like "a menu that we can work off of in the next 10 years," said Charles M. Reighart, the county's recycling and waste-prevention manager. The plan suggests transitioning to single-stream recycling for single-family homes and townhouses; creating economic incentives to encourage owners of apartments and condominiums to provide recycling opportunities to residents; and minimizing waste sent to landfills.

On Friday afternoons, a low rumble fills the halls of Parr's Ridge Elementary. The source: large gray trash bins, rolled by a squad of second-graders and parents at the Mount Airy school. The green letters and circle of arrows on their white aprons state their purpose. They are the Green Team, the school's recycling crew, which collects scores of pounds of paper - construction, copy, notebook - each week. Launched last fall, the team has mushroomed from an effort to ensure "we recycle" became a schoolwide practice to one that aims to spread such thinking throughout the district.

Dented soup cans. Discarded Barbie dolls. An old armchair covered in brown and orange plaid tweed. From a Carroll County trash heap, those unwanted items are among the tons of garbage hauled every day to be burned in a York, Pa., incinerator. After cooking for 30 minutes at 1,800 degrees, the ash is trucked three miles to the "picking line," where workers in blue jeans and hard hats remove barely recognizable coins, costume jewelry and the occasional I-beam - anything that survives the incinerator.

Howard County residents are recycling more than ever, but the economics of the county's recycling program have grown HTC shaky, according to the county's annual report on recycling released this week.Howard's recycling rate climbed to 32.3 percent in 1996, a record, thanks to a surge in recycling after County Executive Charles I. Ecker imposed a limit of four cans a week on trash collection last summer.But higher costs for recyclables -- combined with lower costs at landfills -- have called the economics of recycling into question.

Harford environmental officials last week gave the County Council a glowing progress report on recycling efforts in the county, including evidence that the county has exceeded state minimum requirements.Robert Ernst, recycling coordinator, told council members that the county recycled an average 25.36 percent of its waste in 1994. That is 5 percent more than the state requires.The Maryland Recycling Act of 1988 ordered each county with a population of more than 150,000 to develop a plan to reduce its solid waste stream by 20 percent through recycling by the start of last year.

Local trash haulers, worried about an ordinance that would allow the county commissioners to make recycling mandatory, aired their concerns yesterday at a workshop on the proposal.County officials, including County Attorney Charles W. Thompson Jr., Public Works Director Keith Kirschnick and Recycling Manager Vinnie Legge, were on hand to answer questions.Proposed by the commissioners in August, the ordinance would give them the authority to enact a mandatory recycling program if the county's recycling rate drops too low. Currently, the county has a voluntary curbside recycling program.

Carroll's recycling rate climbed to 16 percent in August, up from 13 percent in July, county officials reported yesterday.The county's overall recycling rate for the first eight months of 1993 was 20.3 percent, up from about 17 percent for the first six months, said Comptroller Eugene C. Curfman.Mr. Curfman credited the high rate to the fact that yard waste is being composted, a form of recycling, instead of being buried with other refuse at Carroll landfills. He also said more businesses have been reporting their recycling efforts to the county.

Harford County this month completes the first year of its recycling program with a success rate that already meets the 1994 state goal of 20 percent. Buddy Blue Bag, the program's overstuffed mascot, would split a seam.But there is an asterisk attached. The county got the 21 percent grade only with the help of an automatic 5 percent bonus for having the waste-to-energy incinerator in Magnolia.Still, the countywide program is collecting one-third more recyclable material than it did a year ago, over 200 tons a week.

Residents of Carroll towns are recycling nearly triple the percentage of newspapers, cans, bottles and plastic than that of their rural counterparts, county officials said yesterday.During the first four months of 1993, town residents recycled 24 percent of their trash; other Carroll residents recycled 9 percent, said County Comptroller Eugene C. Curfman."The towns certainly are helping the county recycling rate. If their percentages weren't where they are, we would be hurting," Mr. Curfman said.