Increased
value paid for recycled waste boosts town’s profit-sharing check
By
Will Collette
Last
year, Charlestown’s recycling effort was pretty terrible. When the state
Resource Recovery Corporation handed out checks to cities and towns for their
share of profits from the sale of recycled waste, Charlestown came in dead last
in tonnage and received the smallest check – $6,908.19 – of all the 39 RI
cities and towns.
Then
Town Administrator Bill DiLibero reported this poor performance to the Town
Council and vowed to improve Charlestown’s performance. He said the town would
make it easier for beachgoers to recycle and that he would try to get private
trash haulers to be more careful to keep recycled waste separated, as well as
make sure Charlestown got credited for that recycled material.
Based on
the new state numbers, we did a little better since then. Our
profit-sharing check grew by 9.1%, to $7,539.75. It’s always nice to have an
extra $631.56 to play with.
But
there’s more to the numbers.
The
increase in the amount of our check, such as it is, has more to do with the
increased price paid for recycled material. The year
before, the state got $20.18 per ton for recycled material and this past
year, the price climbed to $21.44 per ton. That’s a 6.2% increase in value.
Charlestown
did succeed in boosting the amount of waste it recycled from 342.39 tons in
2011 to 351.62
tons in fiscal 2012. But that increase of 9.3 tons amounts to only a 2.7%
increase.
If
there’s any consolation at all in the numbers, it’s that Charlestown rose from
last place to next to last, with West Greenwich now holding the dubious
distinction of collecting the least amount of recyclable material and thus
getting the smallest check.
Bill
DiLibero was determined to do better, but with the CCA’s “Kill Bill”
campaign and all the other insane stuff that has happened in Charlestown over
the past year, it’s easy to understand how Bill got distracted and perhaps
didn’t give recycling all the attention it deserves.
DiLibero
never really had any support from the CCA-controlled Town Council. At the
September 12, 2011 Council meeting, DiLibero not only reported Charlestown’s
poor numbers, but said that the town needed to employ more aggressive
enforcement. Town
Council Boss Tom Gentz told DiLibero to come back if the issue has an
impact on tipping fees.
According
to the Council minutes for September 12, 2011, “The Council took no action on this matter
but will revisit the issue in the future as necessary,” making it pretty clear that improving the town’s recycling
record was not a priority for the CCA-controlled Council. Indeed, in the CCA’s platform, the only
important environmental issue is acquisition of more open space.
By the way, this was the same Town Council meeting where Charlestown got to
see behind Tom Gentz’s “Uncle Fluffy” mask as he pilloried Breachway Grill
owner Craig Marr for holding a birthday party for his grandmother on the
restaurant’s deck. Click
here to watch Gentz go nuts on Marr for yourself. Gentz's anticipation for his session with Marr may be one reason for his lack of engagement during the recycling discussion.
In
November, voters will have the chance to use the time-honored democratic
process to hold Gentz and his colleagues accountable for what they have done,
and what they have failed to do.
