Juneau will soon have two options for recycling their household waste.
The waste transportation company Alaska Pacific Environmental Services dba Arrow Refuse recently offered subscriptions to its new curbside recycling service. At the same time the City and Borough of Juneau plans to continue its source-separated recycling service at 5601 Tonsgard Court.
Arrow plans to collect waste from its 96-gallon curbside recycling carts every other week. Recycling carts have blue lids, garbage carts black. Arrow accepts aluminum, steel and tin cans, mixed paper, newspaper, cardboard and plastic, cleaned of food residue. No glass or hardbound books. The service costs $3.11 per month.
The City and Borough of Juneau is required by the federal government to provide service for disposal of hazardous household waste, CBJ Public Works Director Kirk Duncan said. It offers recycling to reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill, extending its life.
Juneau residents pay a $4 fee on their utility bill to pay for the hazardous waste and recycling services. Recycling takes up $1.25 of that, Duncan said.
Arrow’s competition for recyclable material will not hinder CBJ’s program.
“We’re still providing the same level of service,” Duncan said. People can use Arrow’s curbside recycling, “or they can still continue to bring source separates recycling to the landfill,” he said.
Waste Management owns the landfill at 5601 Tonsgard Court in Lemon Creek.
The city’s household hazardous waste and junk car programs may move near its recycling center if negotiations with Waste management are successful, Duncan said.
CBJ also takes the approximately 400 cars junked each year. Currently junk cars are disposed of at the landfill.
“Something has to happen to all of those junk cars,” Duncan said.
The recycle center at Tonsgard Court requires users to separate recyclables before disposing. Arrow Refuse plans to compact the materials together and send to a materials recycling facility, of which only a couple take compacted, comingled recycling in the Seattle area, Duncan said.
CBJ recycling “goes to where-ever Waste Management can get the best price,” Duncan said.
For the CBJ’s service, all recyclables, excluding glass, are baled and shipped south for recycling.
“People see the glass and get upset,” Duncan said. “You toss a couple pickle jars into the dumpster,” he said, “that doesn’t get recycled.”
Duncan said the CBJ reuses its glass instead of recycling it.
The glass is ground down and spread on the landfill in lieu of bringing in another material.
“Everything else gets recycled, it gets baled and sent to Seattle,” Duncan said.
Arrow Refuse does not accept glass for recycling.
Co-mingling recycled waste is a new concept and prices remain volatile and depend on regional markets, Duncan said. Co-mingled waste fetches $49 per ton, down from $100 per ton last year, Duncan said.
“That is our issue with co-mingling,” Duncan said. “You end up with a product with much less resale value.”
Compare this price to that of cardboard, which right now is approximately $150 per ton, Duncan said. Aluminum goes for $1,800 per ton.
Duncan said whatever method, recycling provides a diversion from disposal in valuable landfill space.
“Which is a positive thing,” Duncan said.
City Code related to storage of garbage within the borough has not changed and remains in effect, according to a CBJ press release.
For more information about Arrow Refuse’s curbside recycling, call 523-5890 or visit bit.ly/IQZvNP..
For more information on the CBJ’s recycling and hazardous waste program contact CBJ Solid Waste Coordinator, Jim Penor, at 780-6009.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (32)
Add commentFlaws in content
I think there may be substantial errors in this article. No one has said anything to the assembly about junked vehicles being stored in the landfill. Hopefully, the paper will issue a correction. In the meantime, I am asking the mayor and the city manager for a status update for assembly members.
Customer cost of recycling
Recycling is a good thing. Paying double for it is not.
Juneau residents already pay $4/month on their utility bill for hazardous waste and recycling services. Arrow's curbside recycling program will cost you an additional $3.11/month which includes rental of a 96 gallon roll cart.
For my household, it's an easy decision: continue using what we already pay for and avoid having to store a huge roll cart in the garage which is already over-crowded.
Besides, going to the recycling center is a Juneau social event....and ever-so-satisfying to lob the glass into the dumpster after a stressful work week :-)
great
beginnings I make a recycle run twice a month which uses about a gallon of gas. So it's a no brainer, ws signed up as soon as we got the notice best of all they're taking plastics 1 thru 7 whereas WM only takes #s 1&2
Not the best but better than what we got
I am glad to see a start to curbside recycling. Sad they only pick up every other week. Honestly I think more of my trash is recyclable than not.
Bad reporting on junk cars. Think Tonsgard confused them.
No mention that with this fully automated system you either rent their can or pay almost the same amount for the driver to get out of the truck and unlatch the lid on your can. That $300+ bear proof can you got at their urging... now they can charge you for.
I love it
Hauling recyclables to the landfill has never been the highlight of my week. The gas and time involved pretty much guarantees it's a loser And having to store separate waste streams in different containers takes a lot of space. I'll probably share a can with my neighbor.
Good job, Kirk Duncan and Arrow.
$3.11
Doesn't seem like a lot. And as for the extra container - well I currently have several containers - one for each type of recyclable, this will actually cut down on that. I can still take my glass to the recycling center and let Arrow pick up the rest - including those #5 and #7 plastics that I currently have to throw away....
Cans ??
@lvmykyk- Yes, I am the proud owner of one of those $300 cans that I bought at WM urging. Question- Are we going the be allowed to even use them anymore, or are they being replaced by the 'rentals'? I've asked WM twice, and no answer yet.
Glass
If glass is just dumped into the landfill anyways why even recycle it?
webster
You can use your can. BUT you have to pay like $2.35 a month for the driver to get out of the truck and unlatch it. I guess the new cans are fully automated and the truck does all the work. The rental of their can is $2.95 a month.
I will be saving my pennies. Consider it my contribution to the cardio health of the driver.
CBJ charge
Since I plan on using curbside recycling I want the charge removed from my utility bill. $48 is too much money for haz-mat and since glass is not recycled I do not want to pay for that either.
This is outrageous, and I
This is outrageous, and I blame mostly CBJ since Arrow is CBJ's monopoly. One 32-gallon garbage can service used to run $48.07 including sales tax for 3 months. Until now.
Under the new plan, 32-gallon one can service is no longer available according to Arrow (at least that is what they told me - contrary to what Webster may have been told). The smallest level of garbage service will be a 48-gallon refuse roll-cart @ $14.45 per month plus $2.75 cart rental plus tax for a grand total of $54.18 for three months. That is unless there is an additional regulatory cost charge like there used to be on the old service, in which case the charge will be even larger. Oh, and if they can convince the RCA that the garbage can/cart rentals are worth more, watch those garbage cart rental rates go up. So why recycle at all if required to pay for garbage pickup of empty space in a huge can (instead of driving to recycle material and increase my carbon pawprint burning $4.50 gasoline)? What about people who cannot manage the 48-gallon can at their residence?
Six dollars and eleven cents more for 3 months, we now have to rent carts and what CBJ told us to buy in their bear-proof television ads goes to waste. Home Depot and Walmart still have the soon-to-be unusable cans for sale; who has the liability to refund the cost if someone buys one right now?
When does this start
When will this program start?
YAY FOR RECYCLING!!! NUFF SAID.
YAY FOR RECYLING!!! NUFF SAID.
Giving us two days to choose
was CHEAP!
Ridicules:
Two days to respond was ridicules. This sure was dropped on us in a hurry; I didn’t even know we were this close to a change. Now I need to find someplace to store this can, I have no room in the garage, and hate to store it outside. 96 gallons is out of the question. I use to recycle a few times a month, a trip to the dump would do it. However, everything is going in the can now and they can pick it up every week. Don’t forget that the can has to be positioned in a certain direction to the street or they won’t pick it up. And with the winds in this town what if the can is blown sideways before the truck gets there?
Recycle?
Why? Dumping glass that gets munched by the steel-wheeled dozer any way or pay to have it ground up and sprinkled on top? Hmmmm. Tough decision. At least those pickle jars don't leach into Lemon Creek water and AIR! CBJ is negligent when it comes to WASTE MANAGEMENT. I think the mob has made them an offer they can't REFUSE. Eh, ARROW?
Not Bear Proof
Ok, so I went to the website. These new garbage cans are not the same as the bear proof ones some people are renting or some of us have bought. Please don't think this new container will give you better protection than your old bungee cord, they still need to be stored indoors or in another bear proof container prior to day of pick up.
If you are renting one of their bear proof containers the rate goes down. BUT you have to pay an additional $2.34 a month for the driver to get out of the truck and unlock the lid. If you own your bear proof can you have to pay this fee as well, sorry for the error in rate I posted earlier.
Just didn't want anyone to get a trash ticket because they misunderstood what the new cans will or will not do.
A win/win for CBJ.
CBJ charges a sales tax for utilities like garbage service so with the Arrow fees going up the sales tax will rise. Also, costs to rental property owners will go up so landlords will raise rents. Then the CBJ assessor will raise the assessed value of the rental property based upon the higher rent amount.
for
those that have an issue (or issues) with what’s being forced on you, you still have a choice that's simple. Pack your trash & recycling to the landfill. Sounds like most here are recycling anyway, so take the trash save the cash.
hooray!
I'm glad they've finally instituted a curbside recycling program. I didn't recycle before because like some other posters have mentioned, it's a hassle to separate everything out at home and spend the gas and time to take it out to the dump yourself. And now that I will be recycling, I figure I can go from the 3-can old service to the 48 gallon new service, which even with the rental fees and the recycling will STILL save me money in the long run. And like most of you, I don't know what I'm going to do with my old cans. I have no idea where I'm going to store these new monster-sized cans either. But rather than pissing and moaning about it, I'm spending my time trying to come up with a solution! :)
The other cost
That none of the whining posters have mentioned here is the cost we'll pay to ship all our waste south when the landfill maxes out. Think it's expensive today? Just wait.
This program will keep our landfill operating for a few more years.
Again, good job Kirk Duncan and Arrow.
Don't jump on the band-wagon yet
I hope you will not rush to sign up for Arrow's curb-side recycling offer. There are things that are not being made clear to you yet ... They are not being made clear to the Assembly yet either.
Arrow is free to offer any service they like within RCA limits, but the City's role in that should be made more clear to us all BEFORE we sign on!
Please email or call the city manager, the mayor and/or your elected officials if you would like more information to be made a amiable to the public.
Question and thanks
First - thanks Ruth for keeping on top of this. I found the card from Arrow (that I got after the sign up period) to be less than helpful.
I went to the website - but I have a dumb question:
What exactly is a "Roll Cart"? Is that just the can itself? Or is there another piece of equipment? I'm envisioning a large metal cart with sides and wheels, not sure I'll be able to drag that up my sloping gravel driveway to the curb - especially in the snow!
I am in the boat with
I am in the boat with swimmergirl... we have a super steep gravel driveway. A second or even bigger trash holder is just something I do not see working, so I hope I can keep recycling the way I have been for years and just drop it off myself! Much easier to load a couple tubs in the truck once a week and drop stuff off on my way home then it would be for me to figure out how to get it up and down my driveway (especially in the winter) with children in tow and the husband off at work! My fingers are crossed that the "do it yourself" option sticks around!
Other Recycling Options
Nothing was mentioned about other recycling options around town. Forget waiting for the city to have a junk car event when we can take them to Skookum for free all year. And we can get paid for our aluminum cans instead of GIVING it to the city so THEY can get paid! Why is the city supporting W.M. and not local business?
I agree,
I agree,
I agree,
I agree,
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