Careful now... The man is on to the "scavengers"
Will scavengers put NYC recycling program on road to ruin? | Resource Recycling
(copied and pasted)
[Will scavengers put NYC recycling program on road to ruin?
By Jake Thomas, Resource Recycling
They come out in the evening. They come out late at night and in the wee hours of the morning. They come with vans and trucks. They know the recycling collection routes. They are scavengers and, according to some, they are causing a problem for the Big Apple's recycling program.
As commodity prices for paper and metals have risen, those seeking to make some cash have increasingly begun targeting New York City's curbside recycling program, depriving it of valuable material and complicating its operations.
"We've known, historically, because we've run into this in the past, that when the price of metal, particularly copper, is high, or [when] the price of paper is very high, you will see the theft of recycling," says NYC Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty, who notes that some refer to the scavengers as "poachers."
In 2007, NYC officials were seeing an uptick in theft of recyclables. In response, the city passed a law mandating that anyone caught taking recyclables or appliances set out on the curb for recycling using a vehicle can have their vehicle impounded and be slapped with a $2,000 fine. People collecting bottles and cans on foot aren't covered by the law and have traditionally not been a concern of the department, says Doherty.
Despite the law, numbers from the department suggest there is still a rising problem with theft. In 2009, there were over 80 vehicle impounds in NYC for the theft of metals or paper from curbside recycling. In 2011, that number is over 470.
The problem has been particularly bad for appliances set out for recycling, due to a rise in the price of metal commodities. Last year, nearly half of all appliances put out for collection for recycling were removed before they could be picked up by the department.
Doherty says that NYC has a contract with Sims Metal Management to recycle the scrap, which is being adversely affected by the scavenging.
With the decline in the newsprint industry, the amount of paper being collected in NYC has already been on the decline, according to Doherty, which is only being exacerbated by the theft. He says that the city makes as much as $13 a ton on paper, revenue the city is losing out on.
Additionally, he states that city has made big investments in personnel and equipment to collect recyclables and a return on this investment isn't being realized due to theft.
"You make an investment in the equipment and the personnel with the expectation that you're going to be out there collecting a certain amount of recyclables, and when you have these inconsistencies because of theft, your ability to plan for the future becomes more difficult," says Doherty.
In response to the situation, the department will be looking into trying to get a new law passed that will raise the fines for taking recyclables and giving the department expanded authority to deal with the issue, says Doherty. The department has also begun scrutinizing scrap yards more.
According to a recent article in Resource Recycling magazine by director of the NYC Department of Sanitation's Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling, Robert Lange, growth in scavenging for recyclables has run parallel to the developments with the city's municipal recycling program and is likely to become an increasingly complex issue as more people flock to urban environments.
"While the scavenging of recyclables is a problem in many jurisdictions regardless of housing density, it is a particularly acute problem in dense urban centers where scavengers can more easily and efficiently collect large volumes of recyclables, with or without using a vehicle," said Lange.]
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Originally Posted by Copper Head
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