Recycling law could create jobs, reduce waste

Legislation recently signed by Gov. Mike Pence may reduce the total amount of waste produced in Indiana by 50 percent.

After much discussion and bipartisan involvement among Indiana leaders, House Bill 1183 might provide Indiana with a smaller carbon footprint, more jobs and a stimulated economy.

Larry D. Barker, president of the Association of Indiana Solid Waste Management, said studies conducted by Purdue University and Ball State University determined between 50 and 60 percent of what was going into landfills was recyclable.

This was determined by having trash trucks empty their collections onto tarps and having students sort through the trash by hand.

“This is larger than most people realize,” Barker said.

Barker said Indiana is currently falling behind many other states in the United States in terms of environmentally friendly plans such as recycling.

“We have been lagging behind for years, and this now is going to move us up the ladder,” he said.

He said the solid waste districts he works with were formed in 1970 because trash was being shipped into Indiana from the East Coast. Laws needed to be created to regulate solid waste in the area.

“We developed 20-year plans, and all of these kind of expired in 2010,” Barker said. “They were good plans, but they all needed to be tweaked and refreshed.”

Putting trash into landfills is what makes money for the waste industry, but Barker said this plan has more risks than benefits.

“The waste industry is massive,” he said. “It is a multi-billion dollar industry.”
HB 1183 should be environmentally friendly and provide more jobs in Indiana, Barker said.

Electronic Recyclers International built a facility in Plainfield, Ind., that employs 350 Hoosiers, Barker said.

He said nothing in this process is outsourced because jobs are needed here, and at times the conditions in other countries are dangerous and unhealthy.

Though outsourcing this recycling job would be cheaper, Barker said this system is more beneficial overall.

“It’s sad that people don’t understand the dangers they’re putting other people in to make a buck,” he said.

HB 1183 will reduce the waste in landfills by pulling out all the recyclables, Barker said.

“The ultimate goal is to reduce the waste stream,” he said.

The recycling will either be done at a transfer station or on site at the landfill and can be accomplished in several ways, Barker said.

Usually, the waste is sorted with machines such as tumblers that rotate the waste until the recyclables fall out through screens.

He said there are magnetrons that pull out metal objects and eddy currents to identify aluminum in the mix. Optic sorters will use lasers to identify recyclable materials, and air currents will blow them apart from the pile of waste.

Another method is for individuals on the sorting line do the work by hand, Barker said.

This kind of work is already taking place in several cities across the nation, such as Sunnydale, Calif.

After being sorted, the recyclables are then sent to manufacturers to make new products.

Barker said Indiana Recycling Coalition Executive Director Carey Hamilton predicts as many as 10,000 jobs will be created for people in Indiana.

Prices for recyclable commodities fluctuate with aluminum and fibers, such as cardboard being some of the most mobile, Barker said. Glass has been relatively stable for the past five years.

“Either way you go, the waste has got to be disposed of,” Barker said.

Because of this, Barker said people are either paid to take away trash or they are paid more to recycle it.

“We have total support from the recycling manufacturing industry,” Barker said.

He said Alcoa makes use of the recyclables collected in Indiana. The company produces everything from beverage cans to parts for jumbo jets.

Barker’s main frustration is with plastics.

“A lot of people don’t even understand the plastic world we live in,” he said.

Plastics are made with petroleum. If they are recycled, they reduce our dependency on foreign oil, Barker said.

When done correctly, the community will be more sustainable, reduce its
carbon footprint and stimulate the economy, Barker said. He envisions businesses getting immediate payback.

Recycling will be free, but people will pay for what goes to the landfill, Barker said. This price will virtually be cut in half if the amount of material going to landfills is also halved.

This benefits residents and businesses and leaves them with money they will invest back into the community, thereby stimulating the economy, Barker said.

Barker said people have been positive and receptive to the idea in Monroe
County and across Indiana.

There will be a meeting April 22, Earth Day, to discuss the implementation of the plan.

Though plans have not been finalized yet, the goal is to remove three million tons of recyclables from the six million tons of trash in Indiana, Barker said. He said mining the landfills will probably not be part of the plan.

“The whole goal of this bill is to catch it before it goes to the landfill,” he said.

Critics believe start-up costs, which have not yet been fully determined, will be a setback. Barker said he can’t think of a business that doesn’t have a start-up cost. It is necessary for him.

IU will also benefit from this bill as a business, saving money on trash removal.
Associate Director of Residential Programs and Services Environmental Operations Steve Akers has worked on this project for the past four years, Barker said.

“Steve was very vocal in having recycling containers on campus,” Barker said.

Akers was a primary part of the desk-side recycling bins being placed in
every office on campus. They are larger than the regular trash bins, forcing people to reconsider if they need to throw something in the trash or if it can be recycled.

“We already have a goal on campus ... which is 40-percent waste reduction by 2020,” Akers said.

Akers said he has been working with the Recycling and Resource Group in the IU Office of Sustainability for a while now to implement these changes.

“That’s not something that is going to happen overnight,” he said.

Things like recycling bins and systems in all residence halls and dining halls have been a large part of this, but Akers said he thinks education may be one of the most important factors to change the way recycling happens on campus.

“The only difficulty I see would be funding,” Akers said of plans to try to purchase, label and place even more recycling bins around campus to match the number of garbage cans.

Students can help by recycling on their own, Barker said and, overall, this change will greatly benefit all of Indiana.

“There is no downside,” he said.