Testimony of
William O. Howland Jr.
Director
“Status of Residential Recycling in the District of Columbia”
October 15, 2009
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION
Jim Graham, Chairperson
John A. Wilson Building
Council Chamber, Room 500
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004
TESTIMONY OF WILLIAM O. HOWLAND, JR.
DIRECTOR OF THE DC DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS
ON “THE STATUS OF RESIDENTIAL RECYCLING
IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA”
BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS
AND TRANSPORTATION
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2009, 2 PM
• Good afternoon, Chairman Graham, members of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation and staff. I am William O. Howland Jr., Director of the DC Department of Public Works.
• I appreciate this opportunity to share with the Committee the accomplishments, challenges and future associated with the District’s residential recycling program.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
• First, I will provide an overview of our program.
• Each week, we collect plastic, metal, glass and paper items from about 103,000 single family homes and buildings with up to three living units. In FY 2008, we collected more than 29,000 tons of recyclables, which is 15 percent improvement over FY 2007, when we collected almost 25,000 tons of recyclables.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• The District’s residential recycling program began humbly more than 20 years ago when residents could drop off their materials to various intersections. We later began the curbside collection program, which featured bins of different sizes and colors and trucks with dual hoppers, one held newspaper and the other held all the other materials.
• The program also was discontinued temporarily and when it was restarted, a private contractor handled collections. This was unsuccessful and we brought the program back in house.
• In 2005, the Department of Public Works introduced the metropolitan area’s first single-stream residential recycling program, thus eliminating multiple barriers to residents’ participation. Suddenly, sorting plastics, from paper, glass and metals and storing them in too small, unwieldy bins was a thing of the past. Our recycling rate increased, as did residents’ satisfaction with the program.
• In fact, a December 2006 study by the US Government Accountability Office, commissioned by the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works cited increased convenience, such as single stream, as a key factor in boosting the number of households and tonnage collected per household.
• Last October, Mayor Fenty announced yet another program innovation – an increase in the types of recyclables DPW would collect. Again, we achieved another regional first when we began accepting plastic bags that have become so ubiquitous littering the urban landscape.
• These new items also include wide mouth plastic containers, rigid plastics such as toys and lawn furniture, and milk and juice cartons. And we are seeing these items in our collections.
• Overall, since FY 2007, we have seen the District’s residential recycling rate rise from about 18 percent to 24.3 percent in FY 2009.
FY 2008 WASTE SORT STUDY FINDINGS
• Now, I would like to discuss the findings of our FY 2008 Waste Sort study that revealed the District’s strength in recycling certain materials. DPW staff actually sifted through 16 tons of trash from all eight wards to:
1. Determine how households in DPW’s service population manage their waste – what is being recycled and what is being trashed;
2. Determine how much of the District’s residential waste stream is available for recycling on an annualized basis; and
3. Look at the recycling behaviors by ward to better tailor DPW’s recycling messaging.
• According to our study, District residents have grasped the recycling message. We recycle three times more brown and green glass than the national average. We also exceed the national rates for recycling newspapers, plastic bottles and clear bottles by about 20 percent.
• The study results also identified opportunities for further improving our recycling rates, especially for paper items. For instance, District residents can begin adding cardboard packaging for items such as cereal, facial tissue and paper towels.
• I challenge residents to look around their homes, especially their kitchens and bathrooms. It’s amazing the amount of cardboard packaging in these rooms that can go into the recycling cart instead of the trash can.
• We also can increase the amount of other paper products that can be recycled, including corrugated cardboard, telephone books, paperback books, and hardback books.
• Our other opportunities can be found in our refrigerators and kitchen cabinets because that’s where aluminum and steel cans are located. We recycle both of these commodities at rates lower than the national averages.
• If we recycle all the recyclable items that were put in the trash, we could boost our rate to 36.2 percent.
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE/E-CYCLING/SHREDDING
• Thus far, I have focused on our residential recycling collection program. Now, I would like to mention our household hazardous waste/e-cycling program, which also has evolved since the 1990s.
• This program began in the mid-1990s as an annual drop-off program for household hazardous waste only at Carter Barron Amphitheatre. We later added e-cycling in 2002 and began conducting semi-annual drop-off events at Carter Barron and the Benning Road Transfer Station.
• Starting in May 2008, we began a weekly household hazardous waste/e-cycling drop-off program for residents to bring their toxic cleaning supplies and unwanted electronics to the Ft. Totten Transfer Station and Benning Road Transfer Station every Saturday except holidays. Both stations were averaging 200 cars per Saturday. Last month, because of budget challenges, we ceased collections at the Benning Road Transfer Station. In FY 2010, we are continuing weekly (Saturday) collections of household hazardous waste/e-cycling drop-off at the Ft. Totten Transfer Station.
• Last year, the District became the first local jurisdiction to provide free, weekly personal document shredding for residents. This shredded paper is added to our recycling statistics.
THE FUTURE
• We have come a long way in the two decades since the start of our recycling program and created a sound foundation for the future.
• Next on our agenda is composting all 8,000 tons of leaves we collect each fall. This year, the leaf collection program begins November 2 and we will be in every neighborhood in the city at least twice through the end of December.
• In FY09 we collected 8,298 tons of leaves and composted 4,577 tons. This is the first time we have had sufficient space to compost more than one-quarter of the leaves we collected.
• Additionally, in FY 2010 we are partnering with the University of the District of Columbia to expand further the space for composting and help support their agricultural program and green jobs initiative. We are providing up to 1,000 tons of leaves for composting.
• I would like to conclude my remarks by showing the Committee and our viewers examples of the items we accept and the educational materials we distribute in print form as well as electronically.
• All our brochures are available online at dpw.dc.gov. Just last week, we uploaded a new page where residents can learn their trash and recycling collection day(s) by providing their home address.
• Residents also can get information about DPW services on Facebook, which can be accessed from our Web site. There you will see a video about the household hazardous waste/e-cycling/document shredding program.
• Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this opportunity to discuss the District’s residential recycling program. I am ready to respond to your questions.