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Tuesday, December 4, ALBANY, N.Y. – The city of Albany falls behind as many cities are becoming more environmentally conscious. Recycling is loosely enforced by officials of the city and there is little awareness of this issue among residents. However, Albany as well as college campuses in the area are currently taking more steps to make the city “green.”

Albany residents are required to recycle, according to the guidelines provided by the city. The Department of General Services collects recycling material curbside once a week from approximately 30,000 houses or apartments with four or fewer units on the property. According to the city code, residents can be charged up to $250 a day for failing to recycle. Implementing these laws, however, proves to be more difficult.

“To be honest, we don’t do a whole lot of enforcing right now,” said Kelly Knoetgen, City of Albany Recycling Coordinator. “We just don’t have the manpower to be out there writing tickets” The city is in the process of developing a new project that will allow them to properly assess fines within a given amount of time, especially the commercial sector which is made up of apartment complexes. “For now, it’s an education based effort in that if I get a complaint that neighbors are not recycling, I will provide them with a blue bin or information on a recycling company,” said Knoetgen.

Although it is a growing business, recycling remains a market based industry. Both the amount that is spent and the profit made by companies reflect which materials are currently being picked up from residents, and which are in demand.

After the products are picked up curbside, they are taken to Sierra Fibers, which is a Material Recovery Facility located on South Pearl Street. They take the glass, metal, plastic and paper, sort it, and bale it to be packaged and sold to different markets. “They’re like the middle man,” said Knoetgen. “And it depends on the market whether we pay or get paid. Right now, for instance they are paying us for our product. But that could change at any time.”

The city does not pick up recycling from residences with more than four units. They must arrange for private collection.

“We get a lot of business in Albany, but not as much as we probably should for a city,” said Greg Brown, Material Recovery Specialist of METRO Waste Paper Recovery. “I’m sure there are a lot of residents that just don’t do it. But it’s gotten better since we started a year and a half ago. We’ve got plenty of opportunity and we’re quite happy with our progress.” This company too is a market driven company that presently does not charge customers for their product. “There are even times that we are paying them for their material,” Brown said.

When trying to recycle, some college students in Albany are faced with more of a challenge. The College of Saint Rose does not provide any recycling containers in the dorm buildings for students that live on campus, and they can only be found in a select number of offices.

“It seems like recycling is pretty much non-existent,” said Kali Zigrino, a sophomore at the college that lives on campus. “I go through so many bottles of water that I just throw out. If you live in a dorm, it’s just not an option.”

The newly formed Environmental Club is in the process of implementing a new plan for recycling. “We have had so much support and positive feedback from the students, faculty and staff on campus since we've started,” said Caitlin Pixley, Vice President of the club. “So I think that we just needed to get some momentum going on campus.” The club’s first priority is to make recycling more available to students. “I think that the campus needs to have an increased awareness in terms of recycling. . .We want our efforts to have a ripple effect within the community.” 

Representatives from The College of Saint Rose have been meeting with Metro Waste’s Brown to discuss ways to improve the recycling program.

University at Albany students seem to already have it down. They are responsible for the recycling of 3,000 tons of material during the last four years alone, according to Dr. George Robinson, biology professor and head of the “GoGreen Initiative” at the university, a program launched eight years ago to help the environment. “We are all definitely part of a ‘disposable society’,” said Robinson. “Our recycling rates continue to increase drastically every year.”

The University’s GoGreen Initiative includes increasing awareness and providing students with tools in order to practice environmentally safe procedures.

“We have a volunteer group that is open to any student who wants to join,” said Robinson. “They act as liaisons between the students and the group’s officials. The feedback they give us allows us to adjust our actions accordingly. They make sure jobs are getting done.”

While it is helpful to the environment, recycling can be rather costly. The University's Physical Plant Department maintains an annual budget of $96,000 for recycling and refuse removal, and very few items generate a return on investment for the University.

The emergence of this costly procedure as a new trend insures a growing business for many companies. WTE is unique in that it is a company based in Massachusetts that refines plastic for product.

“We are the only one around that does what we do,” said Penny Atkinson, Commercial Coordinator of the WTE plant in Albany. The company buys plastic beverage bottles and refines it into a state that allows them to sell it back to customers. It becomes either flake or pellet, depending on the customer in need of the product.

Sims Metal is a recycling company that buys all types of iron and steel from the general public, and sells it to steel mills around the world. With several hundred clients in Albany, Sims Metal is committed to increasing recycling rates and producing high quality goods.

Albany residents offer varying points of view on recycling.

“The city takes care of my recycling every week,” said William Johnson, 56, a lifelong resident of Albany. “But I think I’m the only one on my street that does it. It’s not a priority for anyone else, but why should it be? They’re not getting anything out of it.”

Another resident has actually changed her practices.

“I never really thought about recycling until recently,” said Nancy Faber, 44, an Albany resident. “I saw something on the news a few months ago so my conscience kicked in.” She now separates her recycling materials and has them picked up each week. “Everyone I know is starting to recycle if they haven’t already, so I do think as a city, we’re getting there.”