Orange County NC Website
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When reviewing the data, it is important to take into account how the rapidly changing nature of the <br /> waste and recyclable materials' stream affect the recycling picture. <br /> The key metric of tonnage recycled, while valuable, has limitations. Three examples of the 'evolving ton' <br /> as it's now spoken of in industry parlance, point out the difficulty in using weight as the sole criterion for <br /> judging program performance. <br /> 1. Printed paper: Over the past five years,the volume and weight of printed paper has declined, <br /> reducing the percent of fiber (paper) in the recycling stream from sixty-eight percent to fifty- <br /> nine percent. Paper has historically been the backbone of monetary value of public recycling <br /> and most sorting facilities were primarily designed to handle various paper grades. Cardboard <br /> from mail order has offset somewhat the decline in newsprint and other printed papers. <br /> 2. Light-weighting of containers: When the aluminum can was introduced it took 16 twelve ounce <br /> cans to generate a pound of recycling, now that number is 33. Similar light-weighting is taking <br /> place with all other containers, e.g.you can feel the difference in water bottles 'flimsiness'. <br /> 3. Changing technologies: Ground coffee came in a steel can in the 1980s,the 1990's saw the <br /> plastic bottle or jug (both recyclable using our current technology), and the current coffee <br /> packaging is laminated, multi-layered light weight pouches that are not recyclable using current <br /> technologies. <br /> The fluctuating value of recyclable commodities also makes comparison of net costs difficult. <br /> Recyclables are, like most other commodities, internationally traded and affected by the unified <br /> world-wide economy. When markets for consumer goods or industrial goods decline or competing <br /> sources of raw material (think oil) are cheaper,the market value of recyclable materials also <br /> declines, although the environmental benefits and landfill space savings remain. <br /> A third factor impacting any comparison is the changing nature of processing recyclables. For many <br /> years Orange County kept paper separate from cans and bottles thereby reaping additional revenue <br /> from MRFs. When all other communities selling to MRFs had converted to single stream, there was <br /> no longer any market advantage to maintaining separate stream. In addition, the added <br /> convenience and increased capacity of roll carts tends to increase participation and tonnage, over <br /> and above the increase in contamination. Both those impacts are universally ascribed to the advent <br /> of single stream programs everywhere. Orange County is not exempt from those influences. Bearing <br /> these issues in mind, please see the data tables on the following page in answer to the question of <br /> impact of conversion to single stream on County recycling programs. <br />