Posted on 08/20/2010 8:00:42 AM PDT by goldendays
High-tech carts will tell on Cleveland residents who don't recycle ... and they face $100 fine
Trash carts containing more than 10 percent recyclable material could lead to a $100 fine, according to Waste Collection Commissioner Ronnie Owens. Recyclables include glass, metal cans, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard. City Council on Wednesday approved spending $2.5 million on high-tech carts for 25,000 households across the city, expanding a pilot program that began in 2007 with 15,000 households.
The expansion will continue at 25,000 households a year until nearly all of the city's 150,000 residences are included. Existing carts might be retrofitted with the microchips. "We're trying to automate our system to be a more efficient operation," Owens said. "This chip will assist us in doing our job better."
The chip-embedded carts are just starting to catch on elsewhere. The Washington, D.C. suburb of Alexandria, Va., earlier this year announced it would issue carts to check whether people are recycling.
Some cities in England have used the high-tech trash carts for several years to weigh how much garbage people throw out. People are charged extra for exceeding allotted limits.
Cleveland officials want to automate nearly all residential waste collection under a program being financed in part by a new fee that went into effect earlier this year.
The automated trucks allow drivers to remain in the cab and empty carts using a remote-control arm. Cleveland owns three of these trucks and plans to buy nine more. Recycling is good for the environment and the city's bottom line, officials said. Cleveland pays $30 a ton to dump garbage in landfills, but earns $26 a ton for recyclables.
The city last year sent 220,000 tons of garbage to landfills and collected 5,800 tons of recyclables. City Council approved updated trash collection ordinances last month to include a section on automated waste collection and curbside recycling.
The new law changes infractions of the law from a minor misdemeanor to a civil penalty. The recycling law only applies to residents who have been issued the carts.
The new law also prohibits people from setting out excessive amounts of trash on tree lawns, which officials say has been an ongoing problem. Fines for excessive trash will range from $250 to $500 depending on the amount.
In either case, the property owner receives the citation. Landlords are responsible for making sure their tenants follow the law.
Owens said Cleveland will conduct a public-service campaign to educate residents about the new collection system and recycling program.
The city stepped up enforcement of ordinances governing trash collection last year by issuing 2,900 tickets, nearly five times more tickets than in 2008. Those infractions include citations for people who put out their trash too early or fail to bring in their garbage cans from the curb in a timely manner.
The Division of Waste Collection is on track to meet its goal of issuing 4,000 citations this year, Owens said. "We're trying to make sure Cleveland stays clean and residents are properly informed on how these things should be set out," he said. "By issuing these tickets, it's helping us change the attitude or perception on how things should be set out."
Councilman Martin Keane, who represents the West Park neighborhood, said he would prefer that the Division of Waste Collection use more discretion when deciding whether to issue a ticket. A warning in many instances would suffice, he said.
"Everybody knows the ones who blatantly disregards the law," Keane said. "Those are the people we should hit with a $100 ticket."
Using a hammer is too obvious.
Mr. Chip, meet Mr. EMP blast!
EMP...the blast that lasts.
United Nation’s Agenda 21 Program for Sustainable Development
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/res_agenda21_00.shtml?utm_source=OldRedirect&utm_medium=redirect&utm_content=dsd&utm_campaign=OldRedirect
You failed.
My trash collector will accept paper, cardboard, cans, and recyclable plastic types 1 and type 2. Anything above 2 is not supposed to be recycled. Go figure.
Is anyone getting a tad upset about these endless government programs aimed at creating “proper behavior”? Frankly, we already recycle, voluntarily although since we cart our stuff off to the recycle center I wonder how much we are polluting vis a vis how much help our recycling is doing. Still, we recently were polled regarding our desire to have a recycle pickup that would just cost us about $12 a month for a bin the size of a shoe box. I said not just no, but hell no. Seat belts, fixed days for ornamental irrigation, EPA directed MPGs, mandatory Ethonol usage, on and on. This is becoming a gulog and I am tired of it.
Glad I live in the middle of no where.
This crap will only inspire people to find alternative ways to get rid of trash.
and down the drain we continue to go....
Every trash night, trucks drive around and pick up the metal. There's a guy in our neighborhood who goes through trash bins and pulls aluminum cans. Anything that is worth recycling is usually gone by the time the trash collectors show up.
Where I live, they try to force recycling to cut down on waste going to the new incinerator. Then they realized that the money they hoped to make to pay for the incinerator was based on how much garbage came in.
What a dilemma. When people started recycling more, less went to burn, so revenue went down.
Such dolts. I believe this is a fine example of unintended consequences.
Sort of like raising taxes on tobacco, impugning smokers, then whining when it works and the revenue from tobacco sales fall.
This country is rapidly turning into a Communist like country, where government controls and regulates everything.
Who pays the $26? (My guess is that some fedgov program is ultimately behind it)
I’m not trying to be smart-aleck or anything, but the correct term is Sisyphean.
The whole thing is so sad - cities that were once so vibrant and proud, now hollow shells their guts having rotted through, what’s left rattles to the ground.
I left that hellhole in ‘84 and never looked back.
Remember to be a crimethinker is doubleplus ungood!
Obey your leaders, Work brings freedom “Arbeit Macht Frei durch den Schornstein”
*I’m not trying to be smart-aleck or anything, but the correct term is Sisyphean.
The whole thing is so sad - cities that were once so vibrant and proud, now hollow shells their guts having rotted through, what’s left rattles to the ground.*
I lived in Chicago and went to Gary, IN a several times.
Sad to see what can happen to a city that was once thriving.
how about if you just remove the chip and post it on a fence post ORRRRR
swap box with your neighbors in protest of this nanny state nonsense.
Green Grads in Maryland
http://www.academia.org/green-grads-in-maryland/
“Glad I live in the middle of no where.”
I do too, but for that very reason I compost organics and burn paper and Cardboard. Metal and Plastics are a problem though So I bag it and every two to three weeks I visit the local Recycle Trailer that just happens to be a 45 minute drive away.
On the Plus side it’s in the Wal-Mart parking lot so I can stock up on my next set of recyclables at the same time.
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