City Council is considering making recycling bins mandatory in large residential buildings, an act that would require Boston University, among other area colleges, to provide recycling access to nearly all on-campus students.
The Access to Recycling Ordinance, developed by City Councilor Mike Ross (Back Bay, Fenway) with various environmental agencies, would mandate all owners of residential buildings with six living units or more to provide tenants free access to recycling.
“Through this ordinance, crucial recycling access will increase significantly for Boston residents, helping reduce waste disposal costs and increasing environmental sustainability,” Ross said yesterday in a hearing at City Hall.
Boston currently produces 570 million pounds of residential trash a year, 13 percent of which is recycled, according to a report in The Boston Globe.
In mandating building owners provide access to bins, the Boston Neighborhood Recycling Commission said it hopes the ordinance will help to increase that figure to at least 20 percent, saving Boston $1.6 million annually.
Only an estimated one-half of Boston’s 80,000 apartments have access to recycling facilities, according to a BNRC press release.
BNRC spokeswoman Alicia Zipp noted the savings Boston could expect from the ordinance.
“The bottom line is, recycling saves Boston money,” she said. “No matter how you feel about solid waste issues or the environment, recycling just makes good sense.”
For everyone percent of trash recycled, the BNRC says Boston could save $250,000 a year in trash disposal costs with additional bins. If Boston reaches the 45 percent recycling rate of nearby Worcester, the city could save up to $7.6 annually, the group asserts.
According to the BNRC, Allston and Brighton are problem areas, with a large number of residents having little access to recycling facilities.
Not everyone in attendance at the hearing yesterday supported the ordinance. Several members of the realty community spoke out against the possible $300 a day in fines building owners would face if they were unable to comply with the ordinance because of space or fiscal restrictions.
City Councilor Jim Kelly (Chinatown, South Boston) said he is “strongly opposed” to the ordinance, calling the ordinance’s proponents “self-righteous” and referring to them as “banner wavers.”
“The founders of the recycling movement never intended for it to be shoved down people’s throats,” Kelly said.
In October, all councilors, with the exception of Kelly, signed a pledge to support any ordinances aimed to provide recycling access to 100 percent of Boston residents. Kelly took issue with a letter accompanying the pledge, which said the press would be informed of who did and did not sign. He called the letter “a threat that I did not appreciate at all.”
Several self-proclaimed “die-hard recyclers” took advantage of their opportunity to testify in favor of the ordinance, describing the ways in which they are forced to go out of their way to access recycling facilities.
Steve Connor, a resident of the Piano Factory, an apartment complex, said the easiest way for him to recycle is to take his recyclables to his parents’ house in Cape Cod.
“If you expect regular people to start recycling, you are going to have to make it way easier for them,” he said.
Cassie Wyss, a member of Recycling Action, told the audience the passing of the ordinance would only be the first step.
“This is a first-things-first initiative,” she said. “Before we can concentrate on educating and encouraging the masses to participate in recycling more fully, we must make sure they have access to the service.”
After hearing testimony from both advocates and opponents at the hearing, Wyss was optimistic.
“It seems like if we can figure out questions of enforcement, there seems to be overall support, and we are very happy about that,” she said.
Ross concluded the hearing by promising to take Kelly and the realty community’s concerns into consideration while redrafting the ordinance. Ross said he hopes the ordinance will be passed by Earth Day in mid-April.