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TWO TALES OF RECYCLING - Pilfering From Recycling Bin Costs Town Money

Posted on: Friday, 24 February 2006, 18:00 CST

By PHILIP MARCELO Journal Staff Writer

* At least two people have been taking recyclable items from residents' bins placed on the curb for pickups.

* * *

FOSTER - Watch who's collecting the recyclable items, because the town could be losing some extra cash.

At least two people have been taking aluminum cans and plastic bottles from trash bins and, most likely, redeeming the items for money in Connecticut, Police Chief Robert Coyne said yesterday.

Town Council President Heidi Rogers said that the unauthorized collectors are profiting from taxpayers while preventing the town from getting some recycling revenue.

The police were notified of the unauthorized collectors two weeks ago by Rambone Disposal Services, the town's trash hauler.

Rambone employees have been noticing a small pickup and a car collecting recyclables during their route over the past six months, according to owner John Rambone.

Often, the unauthorized collectors would leave a trail of loose cans and bottles along the side of the road.

If the town recycles 20 percent of the solid waste it sends to the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, it is entitled to a percentage of the profit from the total amount recycled by the Johnston facility, according to Mike Mesolella, the landfill's recycling coordinator.

Given the size of the town's population, if Foster reaches the 20- percent mark, the town can receive about $8,000 to $10,000 annually from recycling, Mesolella said.

The individuals collecting recyclables are "stealing from the town," Conservation Commission member Mike Wood said. The commission is trying to generate public support for the town's recycling program, which was one of the first programs initiated in the state, according to Mesolella.

The town has never been able to reach the 20-percent recycling mark, Mesolella said. He added that 26 of the 36 towns in the state that recycle did not make that mark this year.

In the fall, the town got as close as 2 percent from meeting the mark, Wood said. The most recent numbers from Resource Recovery show that recyclable items the town delivers to the Central Landfill have dropped less than one percentage point, said Mesolella.

But if private citizens continue to take the items from the town, that percentage is sure to drop more, Rambone said.

The police have identified and spoken with one of the alleged recyclable-material pilferers. The man said that he had made prior agreements with certain residents to remove recyclables from their property, Coyne said. The man also said that he did not take recyclables from off the curb. The police did not charge the man with anything.

Rambone said that according to state law, once garbage is taken to the side of the curb, it becomes state property. Under the town ordinance relating to mandatory recycling, materials offered for collection, whether placed curbside or otherwise, are property of the town and can be handled by only workers licensed by the town.

The council will discuss the legality of private citizens collecting recyclables for their own profit at tonight's meeting in the Town House.

Source: Providence Journal

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