Recycling grows in Utah

Second in a two-part series

Anytime you talk about how to increase the life of your landfill, recycling invariably comes up.

The principle is so simple: Make new items out of old items, which don't end up in a landfill.

In reality, however, it's difficult to put that into practice.

Nationwide, in 2007, the United States recycled 24.8 percent of the 254 million tons of trash we threw away. In Utah, we recycled just 2.7 percent of our 2.4 million tons of trash.

Despite the low rate of actual recycling, Utahns want to recycle more.

The Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste learned just how much through a Dan Jones and Associates survey conducted during the summer of 2008.

Of 803 Utahns surveyed in rural and urban areas, 87 percent said recycling is important, and 89 percent feel their communities should have a recycling program.

Though access to recycling has improved, 66 percent of respondents want more.

And at the end of the survey, each caller asked residents if they wanted to say anything else about recycling.

What they got was about 400 comments — the vast majority of which called for more, broader and cheaper recycling options for residents.

Dan Jones said 400 comments out of 800 responses is a "very, very high" rate. Unless the survey issue is provocative, he said, the best response open-ended questions normally receive is 20 percent.

That Utahns want recycling is evidenced by the dozens of cities along the Wasatch Front that have implemented curbside recycling programs.

And city councils can expect to hear more requests for similar programs.

But recycling isn't perfect.

Prices for recyclable materials have been dropping and cardboard is piling up. There are complaints about overseas destinations for materials and about whether people should be forced into recycling — issues that weigh heavily on cities that are deciding what to do.

Rolling out the (recycling) barrel

At least a half dozen cities along the Wasatch Front are investigating whether it's feasible to bring curbside recycling programs to their residents. West Bountiful, Farmington, Pleasant Grove, Syracuse, North Salt Lake and Clinton have recently sought recycling information on curbside recycling programs.