EcoEKY: Green News from Eastern Kentucky

from the Ashland Daily Independent:

Approval for Boyd recycling program could come in July

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER - The Independent

Published: April 03, 2008 11:33 pm

ASHLAND — The launching of a countywide recycling program is in waiting mode while state environmental officials review a grant needed to launch the program.

Marion Russell, Ashland’s acting director of public services, said a joint committee of Ashland and Boyd County officials submitted the application earlier this month. Approval could come as early as July.

Russell said the grant seeks more than a half million dollars to be used to purchase equipment to run the proposed recycling program. Funds are also being requested for an extensive public education campaign, he added.

Ashland began recycling last September using prior grant funds from Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet to purchased 20 single-stream containers to collect recyclable items. The containers, paid in part with city funds, are now in place at four different locations throughout Ashland. As of the end of February, more than 88 tons of recyclable material had been collected in the containers, Russell said.

Ashland contracts with Rumpke Consolidated Companies to empty the bins on a weekly basis. The company handles the material at its facility in Hanging Rock, Ohio.

All that will change if the grant proposal is successful. The joint recycling committee envisions a self-supporting recycling program that could eventually turn a profit — the city now pays Rumpke a fee to empty the bins.

Materials would initially still be collected in containers at drop off sites throughout Boyd County and neighboring areas, but the materials would be sorted and baled at a jointly-owned facility proposed at the old county garage and then sold.

The committee plans to use inmates from the Boyd County Detention Center to perform the labor, although at least one full-time supervisor will need to be hired, according to the committee.

If successful, committee members say they would eventually like to see the program expanded to include curbside pick-up.

Ashland Commissioner and committee member Cheryl Spriggs said the plan has been well received both by residents and potential buyers. She said vendors interested in purchasing the material have already begun calling.

The committee has been working on the proposal since last fall, touring facilities in other Kentucky counties including those in Lexington and Maysville. A future trip is planned to visit a newly opened facility in Pikeville.