W-b Crime Watches Look For Cooperation 
Group Representatives Meet To Exchange Information And Develop Common 
Policies

1 Shot Left For Back Mountain

By P. DOUGLAS FILAROSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Thursday, July 25, 1996 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE -- For years, Wilkes-Barre's bearish investment in recycling
meant the city collected only newspaper, aluminum and metal cans from
residents at curbside. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By contrast, Edwardsville has been the bull, jumping into the market and
collecting an array of recyclables: newspapers, aluminum and metal cans,
cardboard, magazines, glass and plastic. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For municipalities, choosing items for a recycling program is like joining
the army and playing the stock market at the same time: Once you're in, you're
in for a while. And the risk can be substantial. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Seven years after the state began mandating that larger communities
recycle, 39 in Luzerne County now offer curbside programs. Recyclables
diverted from landfills to marketplaces reached 83,000 tons in 1995, more than
double the 35,000 tons recycled in 1992. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But some communities are adopting a wait-and-see attitude to a volatile
market before they expand their curbside recycling programs. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's a risk," said John Bergold, Wilkes-Barre's director of solid waste
and recycling. "Last year the market was very good. Now, it's bad. The
decision about which items to pick up really depends on the person in charge
of the community." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wilkes-Barre was considered bold when it was the first Luzerne County
community to adopt a recycling program in the late 1980s. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Since then Wilkes-Barre has taken a conservative approach, with a limited
curbside pickup. It plans to expand next year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The marketability of different items really dictates recycling," Bergold
said. "We've not wanted to try other things." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Because of its size, the city faces higher costs for hiring workers to
collect from its 20,000 households, and made a decision not to play the
topsy-turvy market. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For example, the market for recycled newspapers did a complete about-face
during the past year, said Rick Sink, the operations manager at J.P. Mascaro &amp;
Sons recycling center in Hanover Township. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The market plummeted. Where sellers could reap up to $100 per ton last
year, this year they might pay up to $25 per ton to dispose of it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Recycling can make officials look wise or foolish. For instance, when the
newspaper market was bullish, the city was roundly criticized for entering a
contract in 1994 with a waste hauler to turn over its newspapers for free. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now, the city's cautious approach is paying off as other municipalities
struggle to unload the newsprint. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Right now, the newsprint market is non-existent," Sink said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Municipalities generally are careful not to start collecting an item if
they can't afford to keep it up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Once you offer somebody something, you just can't stop it," Sink said.
Taxpayers don't like services taken away, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Smaller communities with lower collection costs tend to be bigger
risk-takers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Towns like Edwardsville, Nanticoke, Dorrance Township and Nuangola jumped
in and offered curbside collection of newspaper, cardboard, magazines,
aluminum and metal cans, glass and plastics. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Because it's smaller, the staffing costs for a community such as
Edwardsville to collect recyclables is less. It's also able to separate one
recyclable, such as aluminum cans, from another, making the items more
valuable on the market. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's a lot easier for us because we don't have the volume that a community
like Wilkes-Barre does," said Edwardsville Administrator Paul Keating. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Keating understands why some other communities are reluctant to be as
aggressive as Edwardsville. Despite common perception, the recycling market is
far from being a gold mine, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "At first, people thought it was great. You got grants from the state for
setting these programs up," Keating said. "A couple years down the road,
communities found themselves paying out." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Keating estimated recycling costs his administration about $30,000 per year
when you add up manpower and equipment costs and disposal fees for material
the borough can't sell. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When the market goes south, the borough's costs go up, Keating said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last year, the community made about $8,500 selling 170 tons of recycled
newspaper to Solomon Industries of Wilkes-Barre at $50 per ton. This year,
Solomon is charging $25 per ton to accept them. The $75 per ton swing will
make a $13,500 difference in the borough's budget. Still, the per tonnage rate
is half what it would cost to landfill. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Getting aggressive &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Undeterred by the shaky market, Wilkes-Barre is primed to switch from bear
to bull. With a new administration and a $300,000 state grant, the city plans
to add glass and plastics to its curbside pickup, officials said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The start of a new, ambitious philosophy follows the election of an
aggressive mayor, Tom McGroarty. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "He's interested in cutting down the amount of waste we collect at the
curbside and send to the landfill," Bergold said. McGroarty could not be
reached for comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There's another factor in the recycling equation. Every ton recycled is a
ton communities don't have to unload at a landfill. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The idea of recycling is not to make money," Bergold said. "If you break
even and do something good for the environment, you can consider yourself
ahead of the game. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "That's what we're going to try to do," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/FRED ADAMS &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jeff Pahler throws a bag of recyclables into a recycling truck. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Recycling Roulette Market's Wild Swings Can Leave Town Holding The Tin Cans **see For The Record 7/26/96