Must-do recycling has fans

Not all voices are raised in indignation in the fallout from Gwinnett County’s decision to mandate recycling.

Kevin Perry, executive director of the Georgia Beverage Association, said he welcomes the move and wants to see other counties follow suit.

“If we are truly committed to reducing the amount of waste we send to landfills and increasing the amount of recycling in Georgia,” Perry said, “we need to continue expanding progressive recycling programs like Gwinnett’s across the state.”

Under the county’s new solid waste collection plan, which goes into effect Jan. 2, residents must recycle or face a possible $500 fine —- which has raised a few eyebrows among citizens who see the program as more government intrusion.

Mandatory recycling has generated some outcry among opponents on local community posting boards.

“I just don’t think it’s the role of the county government or any government to tell us that we must recycle,” said Derek Cook, publisher of gwinnettbuzz.com, a Web site devoted to county issues. “I don’t do a good job of keeping my personal effects in my house organized. Now I’ve got to organize my garbage.”

Recycling administrators in Gwinnett don’t expect the program to be a burden.

“We are trying to make it easier and more convenient for people to recycle,” said Jane Langley, spokeswoman for Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful, the agency tabbed to administer the service.

Langley said the ordinance does not prohibit residents from bringing their recyclables to recycling centers.

“We have no intention of going through anyone’s garbage,” she said. “GCB Services has neither the manpower nor the resources to do that.”

Athens-Clarke County was the first county in the state to offer a curbside recycling program, in 1988. Its voluntary recycling program is often cited by advocates for its success.

Suki Jansen, waste reduction administrator for Athens-Clarke County, said she would like the county to consider making recycling mandatory.

“We would like to move in that direction, either mandates or stronger incentives,” she said. “When you talk about government intervention, sometimes coming up with some creative incentives works better.”

With an aggressive education program and financial incentives, Athens- Clarke County calculates that 32 percent of all its disposable waste is recycled. In fiscal year 2008, the county reported a 12 percent increase in recyclable tonnage over 2007.

Griffin was the first Georgia city to institute mandatory recycling when it launched its program at the beginning of 2007.

Sentiment was mixed at first, said City Manager Kenny Smith.

“Anytime the government puts in the word ‘mandatory,’ ” Smith said, “that always piques people’s interest. Since that time … we’ve had a very successful program, and it’s been quite beneficial for the city.”

He estimated that 18 percent of the city’s waste total is recycled.

In Fairfax County, Va., a metro county similar in population to Gwinnett, mandatory recycling has been on the books since 1992.

“If you can make it easy for people to do it, it sort of occurs naturally,” said Jeff Smithberger, director of solid waste collection/recycling for the county. “We don’t have recycling cops out there, knocking on people’s doors.”

Smithberger said most of the monitoring in directed at haulers to ensure that they are keeping recycled materials out of the garbage.

“We’ve never fined a resident for not recycling,” Smithberger said. In such cases, his department tries to educate the resident about the benefits of recycling.