Jefferson Parish President John Young said Wednesday he wants to resurrect curbside garbage recycling, a program still dormant five years after Hurricane Katrina damaged a sorting center in Metairie. John Young Young said he has instructed Environmental Affairs Director Marnie Winter soon to request proposals from interested companies. He told the Parish Council that the means to support the service have...
Jefferson Parish President John Young said Wednesday he wants to resurrect curbside garbage recycling, a program still dormant five years after Hurricane Katrina damaged a sorting center in Metairie.
John YoungYoung said he has instructed Environmental Affairs Director Marnie Winter soon to request proposals from interested companies. He told the Parish Council that the means to support the service have greatly improved since 2008, the last time parish officials seriously entertained its return.
"I think it makes an environmentally sound decision and is environmentally responsible," Young said. "I think it will make economic sense as well as saving airspace in the landfill."
Curbside recycling met its demise as Katrina's floodwaters receded and garbage collection resumed. Allied Waste's sorting center off Airline Drive, was shuttered with a damaged roof, and Waste Management's contract to collect recyclables in neighborhoods expired in March 2006.
On top of the local obstacles, the market for recycled goods tanked with the rest of the economy, making the effort not worth the return.
In 2008, two companies offered to take over the program, but the council never selected one. Instead, former Parish President Aaron Broussard's administration to poll 120,000 households to test recycling's popularity. With 1 in 10 surveys returned, 54 percent showed support for the service.
Young said Wednesday that two recycling facilities are now operating in Jefferson. Allied Waste has merged with Republic Services and restarted its operations, and the Recycling Foundation is running a processing plant in Marrero, he said.
Parish Council Chairman Tom Capella said he is cautiously optimistic recycling could be reinstated.
"Obviously I would be in favor of recycling as a concept, but it's always about the cost with that," he said.
He added that its success would depend on the market for recyclable goods, the cost of the service and the willingness of residents and businesses to pay for it.
Myrtle Dubea, a neighborhood activist who has long supported a renewed recycling program in Jefferson, said she was pleased to hear of Young's plan. She said its return could greatly curb the amount of waste heading to local dumps and even let the parish to rethink its pending 25-year garbage disposal contract with River Birch landfill.
"We need to get recycling back because there's so much that can be recycled," Dubea said.
"I told (Young) when he was elected, I would sit on him," she said. "He said, 'You and my mother.' "
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Richard Rainey can be reached at rrainey@timespicayune.com or 504.883.7052.