Landfill alternatives

by Kristen Lombardi

To persuade Worcester officials to investigate the possibility of recycling street waste, the Coalition for Green Hill Park has collected details on street-waste-recycling programs nationwide which, members say, have proved cost-effective and ultimately cheaper than city plans to dump at the park for 12 years.

Here is a look at other programs across the country:

* Bloomington, Minnesota, has recycled street-sweepings since 1993, when it began running out of landfill space. The goal is to reduce land filling of street-sweepings from 4500 to 100 cubic yards by recycling sand, then reusing it for icy streets, or blending it with soil products to make topsoil, which the city uses in its public parks.

* New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection suggests 10 ways to reuse street-sweepings, including land filling. However, the agency first recommends using waste to fill potholes, as materials for embankments at road-repair projects, and as a mixture with concrete and asphalt for street-paving projects.

* Metropolitan Council, a planning commission in St. Paul, Minnesota, surveyed 66 municipal public-works departments in Midwestern states that recycle street waste. Most recycle street-sweepings for ice control, which reduces the amount of sand purchased each year, the cost of hauling debris to landfills, and the cost of land filling. The council reports that costs for recycling street waste range from $3000 to $10,150 (for the communities surveyed), but these communities have ultimately saved $3800 to $12,600 by diverting the cost of hauling, then dumping street waste at a landfill.

Back to In the dumps Kristen Lombardi can be reached at klombardi[a]phx.com.