Recycling

Want to help?

Start by attending the Anchorage Assembly Meeting this Tuesday May 6th at 6pm at the Loussac Library.

Two of the most important aspects of the plan--school recycling and full-service drop-off centers--will only pass if YOU show up and demand them. The Assembly will also be taking up Curbside recycling tomorrow night, so come out and show your support! More on the recycling plan...

Then, let your representatives on the Assembly know that you appreciate their service to the community, and that you support the city’s plan for curbside, school recycling, expanded drop-off sites, and more!

You can find your Assembly representatives here. Also, stay tuned through our email alerts https://akcenter.foraker.com/contact.php and the front page of our website to find out when this plan will go for Assembly vote!

You can also show your support by writing a letter to the editor.  A few talking points to consider:

• Anchorage is the largest Municipality in the US without a curbside recycling service - and there are plenty of smaller cities who have figured this out.
• If we want to keep Alaska special, we can start by making it easier for residents to recycle.
• Curbside Service would be voluntary, not mandatory.
• Will increase landfill lifespan
• Community-wide services such as public recycling, school recycling, expanded drop-off sites, and composting are well worth it, and are essential to making Anchorage a modern city!

More Information:

Visit the Muni's new recycling page for up-to-date information.

Waste Not!

Anchorage Unveils Comprehensive Recycling Plan

Anchorage is the largest city in the nation without curbside recycling, but that may finally change.

On Friday, March 21, 2008, before a packed conference room, Anchorage Mayor Begich and key city administrators revealed the Comprehensive Recycling Plan in a work session with members of the Anchorage Assembly.

Currently, Anchorage recyclers manage to divert about 15% of waste from the landfill, and the city’s plan could double that amount—extending the life of our landfill, and keeping Alaska green as it grows

The highly anticipated plan, which is still subject to Assembly vote, includes the following features:

• Curbside pickup of a 96-gallon container for plastic bottles and bags, steel and aluminum cans, paper and newspaper; collection shall be twice monthly, with service beginning Fall 2008 for roughly 1/3  of Solid Waste Services customers and expanding over the next couple years; single stream (one may throw recyclables into the container without pre-sorting them)
• Recyclables will initially be sorted and processed
• Pay-as-you-throw garbage rates for curbside customers with weekly pickup; customers choose a 96, 64, or 32 gallon trash receptacle in addition to their 96-gallon recyclables container; 32-gallon trash rate will be $14.35 per month, two dollars cheaper than the current SWS rate without recycling!
• Automated refuse collection vehicles, already approved by the Assembly, will streamline the process
• Every school in the Anchorage School District will recycle
• More drop-off locations to benefit the entire community: a new full-service recycling center in Muldoon, one in Huffman, and the Anchorage Regional Landfill in Eagle River will be expanded to a full-service drop-off site
• Recycling bins in municipal buildings and other public spaces such as convention centers, performing arts venues, and sports centers, with additional locations such as the airport, museum, and parks to be added later
• Composting will reopen Summer 2008 and accept horse manure, yard waste, and selected other organics
• Outreach and education targeting schools, community groups, and municipal employees
• Community-wide services shall be funded by an $8 increase in the tipping fee
• Future phases include a Girdwood drop-off, business recycling, diversion of tires and construction/demolition waste from the landfill, and city-wide curbside!

ACE has been following this effort closely, and now we're working to earn Assembly approval so that the plan can become a reality!

RECYCLING 101

We may not yet have widespread curbside service in Alaska, but we do have multiple drop-off locations.  Learn the recycling basics here, then scroll down to your location to learn where you can drop off your materials.

NEWSPAPER: Must be dry; inserts OK. No office paper, colored paper, or cardboard.

MIXED PAPER: Must be dry; includes office paper, magazines, junk mail, soft-cover books with glue binding, manila folders, cereal boxes, phone books. No cardboard , newspaper, or soy milk-type boxes.

GLASS: Must be clean with no caps or lids, because the glass plant in Anchorage has very sensitive equipment.

CARDBOARD AND BROWN PAPER BAGS: cannot be greasy with food residue. Break down boxes first.

PLASTIC BAGS: Must be clean, without food residue. Includes grocery bags, Ziploc bags, shrink wrap, and newspaper sleeves. NO candy bar wrappers!

PLASTIC:  Recycle it Right—look at the number on the bottom of your item before pitching it into the bin. If it is not a #1 or a #2, and not a bottle with a neck, it cannot be recycled in Anchorage. Remove caps and rinse out plastics before dropping them off. Don’t drop off any hazardous containers, such as those containing motor oil.

Why must they be bottles with necks? Because bottles are blow-molded and contain different chemicals to make them harden during the manufacturing process—thus they melt at a different rate than the butter tubs and other injection-molded containers. Sorry folks, at this time you cannot recycle the “clamshell” containers for bulk fruits and vegetables even if they say they are a #1 or #2 on the bottom.
This is where “reduce” is so important! Check the number before you buy food items. Think about the amount of packaging that comes into your household. Purchase boxed cream cheese and butter, not the kind in plastic tubs.

STEEL (“TIN”) CANS: These must also be clean, and don’t throw them in the aluminum can bin.

ALUMINUM CANS: Aluminum cans only—no steel cans.

OTHER MATERIALS: Metals, electronics, appliances, light bulbs, clothing—scroll down for more information on where to take just about everything else!

For additional education on recycling, call ACE’s Sustainable Communities program at 907-274-3667, or our friends at any one of the following organizations: ALPAR (Alaskans for Litter Prevention And Recycling) at 907-274-3266 or www.alparalaska.com; Green Star at 907-278-7839 or www.greenstarinc.org; Total Reclaim at 907-561-0544 or www.totalreclaim.com; Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) at http://www.ayea.org or 907-339-3910.

Anchorage/Eagle River Locations

• The Smurfit-Stone Anchorage Recycling Center at 6161 Rosewood is our full-service drop off center. The plant accepts newspaper, aluminum and steel (“tin”) cans, scrap metal, office paper, magazines, cardboard, plastic bags, tire rims, glass bottles, phone books, and #1 and #2 plastic bottles. At this time, they’re not accepting other types of plastic, including lids and caps, yogurt and butter tubs, styrofoam take-out containers, DVD’s, or cold coffee drink cups and lids. For more information call 907-562-2267.

• Community drop-off bins for newspaper and cans can be found at a number of Carrs-Safeway stores, Brown Jug stores, and other locations including Eagle River and the Anchorage Landfill. For a complete listing of all locations, visit ALPAR’s map at http://www.alparalaska.com/map.html or call ALPAR’s hotline at 907-274-3266.

• Total Reclaim, 12101 Industry Way, Unit #C4 off of Huffman Road, is the answer to the question, “Where do I take my used mercury-containing compact fluorescent light bulbs, refrigerators, cell phone, computer, laptop, vending machine, and dead batteries?” Total Reclaim, Inc. is a for-profit business specializing in safe recycling of CFCs, refrigerant, and other technological and hazardous waste produced by modern life, and they can take those materials off your hands for a reasonable fee.  For more information about recycling at Total Reclaim visit http://www.totalreclaim.com or call 907-561-0544.

• Alaska Metal Recycling, 9705 King Street, accepts a wide variety of metals, even junked cars. For more information, call Shirah Roth at 907-349-4833.

• The Salvation Army has three locations in Anchorage and accepts clothing and household items with a usable life left in them. There are also many other fine charities accepting reusable items. Clothing cannot be wet and items must be in good working order! For more information on how to donate used goods responsibly, call our Sustainable Communities program at 274-3667.

• Alaska Waste offers limited curbside pickup for paper is available in the west Anchorage area as a fee service. Call 907-563-3717 for more information.

Mat-Su Recycling Locations

• Valley Community for Recycling Solutions (VCRS), located at the corner of 49th State Street and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway on the way to the landfill, accepts newspaper, #1 and #2 bottles, cardboard, mixed paper, plastic bags, steel and aluminum cans, and assorted other materials. Newspaper has a 24-hour bin; other materials must be dropped off Thursday - Friday from 12 to 6pm and Saturday from 11am to 3pm. You can even watch VCRS in action on You Tube--just follow the link from www.valleyrecycling.org or call Mollie Boyer at 907-745-5544.

Statewide Recycling Locations

• Stay tuned for the new ACE Statewide Recycling Directory. In the meantime, contact the organizations listed below. And if you live and recycle in a location that isn’t listed, please contact SaraEllen at saraellen@akcenter.org or 907-274-3667 to be included in the directory.
• Juneau Recycle Center, 5600 Tonsgard
• Recycle Sitka, Norm Campbell, Recycling Coordinator, 907-747-8670
• Ketchikan Solid Waste, Deer Mountain Landfill, 1103 Nordstrom Drive, 907-225-2370
• Fairbanks Green Star has a directory of drop-off locations at http://www.iagreenstar.org/options.php or call 907-452-4252
• Bush Alaska / Native Villages can start by visiting the Solid Waste Alaska Network at http://www.ccthita-swan.org/main/index.cfm or 800-344-1432 ext. 7184 or Reilly Kosinski, Total Reclaim’s Outreach Coordinator, at 907-561-0544, or ALPAR’s Flying Cans program at 907-274-3266.
• AYEA also has chapters in Juneau, Homer, Fairbanks, Yakutat, and Sitka. Contact them at www.ayea.org.
• Bethel Recycle Center accepts  aluminum cans, scrap aluminum, copper and stainless steel, newspapers, office paper, and #1 and #2 plastic bottles. Bethel cannot accept any kind of batteries, such as computer or car batteries, AAA, AA, C or D batteries.  Talk to the Napa Store in Bethel about taking these. Bethel also does not take telephone books, magazines or catalogs, paint or fluorescent light tubes or the starter unit that go with these, and no e-waste such as computers, monitors, printers, copy machines, telephones or fax machines. The Recycle Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 8am to 4pm. For more information visit http://www.cityofbethel.org or call Dave Stovner 907-543-7072.
• Kenai Peninsula, 907-262-9667.

CURBSIDE RECYCLING

Anchorage is the largest city in the nation without curbside recycling. Right now, we are as close as we ever have been to getting curbside service- this is the time to make your voice heard.

The city of Anchorage is currently developing a final proposal for a comprehensive waste management and recycling program, which will require final approval from the Anchorage Assembly in early 2008.

What would curbside recycling look like? If citizens insist on it, we could have curbside service for those residents currently served by Solid Waste Services as early as spring 2008. There may be a small fee of a couple dollars per month for curbside. Garbage rates would become variable, or "pay as you throw," giving residents an incentive to reduce waste and separate recyclables. Curbside service could ultimately expand, and drop-off locations could be available as far as Chugiak and Girdwood. The Anchorage landfill fee, which has not been raised in 18 years, would see a moderate increase.

ACE has been following this effort closely, and now we're working to ensure that key elements - like residential curbside service - make it into the final plan. Soon, we'll be working to earn Assembly approval so that the plan can become a reality!

We need your help. City leaders need to know that the community supports curbside service for Anchorage residents, and the best way to demonstrate that right now is with a short letter to the editor of the local paper.

A few talking points to consider:

1. Anchorage is the largest Municipality in the US without a curbside recycling service - and there are plenty of smaller cities who have figured this out.
2. If we want to keep Alaska special, we can start by making it easier for residents to recycle.
3. Curbside Service would be voluntary, not mandatory.
   
4. Will increase landfill lifespan.
   
5. Monthly charge for curbside service is expected to be less than $5.00.
   

Letter-writing basics:

• Word limit is 225, and the shorter a letter is the more likely it will be read.
• Factual, reasoned arguments tend to work best.
• An angry or accusatory tone is not effective.
• Speak from your experience. Why do you want recycling and what is your perspective on the issue?

You can also contact your assemblyperson and tell them how much their vote depends on supporting a comprehensive recycling plan. Find out who your representative is here: