Farmington residents in survey favor mandatory curbside recycling

FARMINGTON — So far, Farmington residents appear to be in favor of a mandatory curbside recycling program, by a 60-40 majority.

It's a majority, but not a commanding one, and Farmington officials are waiting until the end of March before they close a survey that has been posted on the city's Web site to gauge residents' feelings about a mandatory curbside recycling program.

The survey was also sent to homes with the city's monthly newsletter at the beginning of the month.

From the start of the survey until now, the percentages haven't changed very much, said Farmington Mayor Scott Harbertson.

The city has received about 725 responses so far and is urging residents to make their voices heard. The survey is available at farmington.utah.gov.

A comment section of the survey has yielded the range of responses, from "Why haven't you done this earlier?" to "Don't you dare make this mandatory," Harbertson said.

But even if the city receives a heavy majority of glowing responses favoring recycling, it's unlikely a program would take effect any time soon.

The problem lies with the recycling industry itself, which is struggling to stay afloat, Harbertson said.

Earlier this year, the Deseret News reported that prices have plummeted for recyclable materials. It's just another place where a sagging economy is taking its toll.

Pat Dunn, recycling operations manager for Utah County-based Dunn Recycling, told the News that when people stop buying products, less cardboard is required for shipping and packaging, meaning paper mills in China and India buy less recycled cardboard.

Markets for metals have nearly dried up, too.

That means some recycling companies are trying to wait until prices improve, but some companies haven't been able to wait and have gone out of business, Dunn said.

Even though it feels good to recycle, and to know garbage is being reused, a recycling program actually won't keep much waste out of the Layton landfill, Harbertson said.

About half of all the garbage in Davis County ends up at Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District's incinerator, which burns garbage at 2,000 degrees, generating steam and electricity.

A countywide recycling program would only reduce the garbage stream by about 10 percent, Harbertson said, extending the landfill's life by only about two years.

Nathan Rich, executive director and CEO of the waste district, said cities could make a 30-40 percent reduction in waste going to the incinerator by implementing a green waste pickup program, especially during the summer when grass clippings and yard waste that flow through the incinerator don't burn as well as regular garbage.

Green waste can be turned into mulch and compost at the landfill and is resold to the community, said Rich, who is working with Fruit Heights on implementing a pilot program for green waste pickup.

E-MAIL: jdougherty@desnews.com