Mesa, Ariz., rolls out Green Barrel to recycle yard waste
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Mesa residents place their tree clippings in a green barrel provided by the city for recycling yard waste. A dedicated collection truck carries the waste to the Tri-Cities Landfill on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, where it is processed into mulch. (Photos courtesy of City of Mesa)
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America's love affair with lawns generates approximately 32 million tons of green waste—grass, leaves, plant trimmings, tree branches and prunings—each year, which might be viewed either as a huge municipal nuisance or in the case of Mesa, Ariz., as a recycling opportunity.
Mesa's Green Waste Barrel Program annually collects more than 15 thousand tons of organic yard waste and sends it to the Tri-Cities Landfill, where it is turned into mulch instead of garbage. "Anything we can do to extend the life of the landfill is going to be good for the environment," said Outreach Specialist Mariano Reyes, "But the short-term benefits make it work. The program saves the city $3.50 per ton in disposal costs, and it can lower our customers' trash bills, too."
Arizona's third largest city provides trash collection to 110,000 households. As part of standard trash service, residents receive a black barrel for garbage and, since 1994, a blue barrel for recyclables. Refuse customers can pay an additional $4.40 per month for a green barrel for yard waste only, or those with more than one black barrel can exchange the extra trash can for a green barrel. About 29,000 customers currently participate in the voluntary green waste-recycling program.
Landfill closure spurs search for recycling solution
The Green Waste Barrel program started in 1997, but its origin goes back to 1993 when a new state law forced the Salt River Landfill, which received all Mesa's solid waste, to move to a smaller site. Siting new areas for a landfill is always difficult, Reyes acknowledged, so the city wanted to do its part to keep the new site functional as long as possible. "Since we already had the curbside recycling program in place, it was natural to think about what else we could recycle," he said.
Having an established recycling program meant that there was no need to add staff or create a new administrative system. A grant from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Recycling Program covered the purchase of the barrels, a dedicated pickup vehicle and educational materials.
The city surveyed residents with two black trash barrels to learn if they would be interested in a green waste-recycling program for part of their trash, and selected Dobson Ranch—"A mature area with a lot of yard waste," said Reyes—for the pilot project.
The initial response was positive enough to warrant introducing the program to more neighborhoods, a few at a time. The gradual rollout was an important part of Green Barrel's success, the outreach specialist recalled. "We took our time to implement the program to make sure that it made economic sense," Reyes explained. "There had to be enough participation to cover overhead costs. Otherwise, it would not be financially reasonable to offer the service. "
It paid to be cautious, he noted, pointing to another Arizona city that tried to launch a citywide yard waste recovery program all at once. Starting on such a large scale, the program didn't have time to build sufficient support to keep it going. "The result was that it folded after a short time," Reyes stated.
Partnership necessary to make recycling program work
The other necessary component in any successful recycling program is a place to send the collected material. Mesa approached the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, owner of the Salt River Landfill at both its current and previous sites. The partnership wasn't SRPMIC's first experience with the innovative use of landfill material. The Salt River Project was buying landfill gas to test for use in what eventually became the 4-MW Tri-Cities Generating Facility.
In a burst of entrepreneurial spirit, SR Landfill designated a 10-acre storage area, bought composting equipment and hired a five-man crew to process Mesa's organic yard waste. "We found out the hard way that composting is a very labor-intensive business," said General Manager Alfred Thomas. "Our equipment couldn't handle the volume of waste we were getting."
SRPMIC eventually found a subcontractor to take over the processing, and the landfill now accepts yard waste from the city of Scottsdale and independent landscapers, as well as Mesa. "An effective composting business requires a dedicated operation," Thomas admitted.
The contractor turns the waste into a commercial grade mulch and sells it to retail outlets, returning a portion of the profit to SRPMIC. There is often more mulch than there is market, however, so the tribe sometimes donates material to projects like a local college's rose garden. "We'd rather sell it, but we have limited storage," said Thomas. "There isn't as much of a market for green waste as there is for plastic, aluminum, glass, even paper."
Mulch sales may produce only a little income, but there have been other rewards: Arizona Clean and Beautiful, a non-profit environmental organization, honored SRPMIC's green waste recovery efforts with its 2003 Governor's Pride award. "In the long run," Thomas insisted, "recycling is about saving 'air' space."
Judged by that standard, the Green Barrel waste program is a success for Mesa and for the Salt River Landfill.
