HAVERHILL — It's a topic on residents' minds, and it is becoming a central issue in the early mayoral campaign.
Haverhill is the only large Merrimack Valley community that does not collect plastic, bottles and cans at the curb.
Mayoral hopeful John Michitson said it's time for that to end. He said residents he talks to across the city said they want to do the environmentally responsible thing and have curbside recycling of all items.
The city collects only paper products, but Mayor James Fiorentini and two citizen committees are developing proposals for more extensive recycling.
The more recyclable material the city collects, the less trash its private hauler, Capital Waste, has to dispose of. The less trash Capital Waste collects, the less the city has to pay the company.
"I have been canvassing our neighborhoods, and one issue is clear: Haverhill citizens want to expand curbside recycling," said Michitson, an engineer and former City Council president who, this past summer, launched one of the earliest mayoral campaigns in recent memory.
"They understand both the global and local environmental needs and see long-term financial benefits for our city," Michitson said of why residents want to see better recycling efforts.
Fiorentini said he has formed a committee to evaluate the city's options for increasing recycling, and that he is awaiting its recommendations. He said requests have been made to private companies for proposals to expand recycling, and that his committee will review those proposals prior to making recommendations.
"I agree we need to do more on recycling, but we have to wait until we have the responses to our RFPs," the mayor said. "I have no further comment on Mr. Michitson's thoughts at this time, but will comment further on election year issues when it is an election year."
Last month, Michitson criticized Fiorentini for not doing enough to curb the use of sick time by city employees. The 2009 mayoral election is about 13 months away.
The city does accept plastic, glass bottles and aluminum cans at the recycling center on Primrose Street, but it is only open a few days a week. More importantly, few residents are willing to haul their own recyclables there, city officials have said.
Michitson proposes a test program in specific parts of the city that would accept all recyclables at the curb to determine how much money can be saved and other benefits. Officials would use the pilot program to decide whether to make it available to every household, he said.
A pilot recycling program by Boston officials for Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, for example, increased recycling by 53 percent in those neighborhoods, Michitson said.
"With the challenges our world faces with global warming, the stakes are high," Michitson said. "Many Haverhill citizens have already begun to make the changes in their personal lives to conserve energy. They are insulating homes, buying hybrid vehicles, and using CFL light bulbs."
Michitson said collecting more recyclables would save the city money by reducing what it pays to dispose of its trash. But he also said money is not the only reason to cut down on the amount of trash the city burns.
"The less trash burned, the fewer emissions we release into the atmosphere," Michitson said. "In the first decade of the 21st century, knowing what we know, it quite simply is the right — and moral — thing to do."
In addition, the mayor's recycling committee, Team Haverhill and the Haverhill Environmental League have committees studying expanded recycling. A key question is whether to use single-stream of dual-stream collection. Michitson and Team Haverhill favor single-stream.
Single-stream refers to a single collection bin for all curbside recyclables such as paper, glass, plastic and aluminum. Dual-stream requires paper and cardboard to be separated from plastic, glass and aluminum, requiring multiple bins.
"For the city to break even, we need a certain level of participation," Michitson said. "The temptation will be to choose dual-stream if the responses to the city's request for proposals show modestly higher returns for dual-stream in the near-term. But doing so might not bring about the level of participation we need to break even and earn money for the city over the long-term."
Now is not the time to worry about "protecting the perceived bottom line" when it comes to expanding recycling, Michitson said.
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