INDEPTH: Hoosier recycling sees benefits, challenges

Sep. 5—GOSHEN — In many communities across Indiana, including Goshen, residents place their plastic bottles, old newspapers and other recyclable items into a container and simply forget about it.

Perhaps what many don't think about is that in addition to helping protect the environment, they are part of a business, one which, like any other business, has its ups and downs, and its own issues.

And at least one state agency is working to encourage these efforts.

Daniel Zelaya is plant manager for Recycling Works, which operates a single-stream material recovery facility (MRF) just west of downtown Elkhart. In addition to Elkhart, they contract with the city of Goshen, Middlebury, Miami, Peru and Marshall counties, Cass County in Michigan, White Pigeon, Michigan, and have an overall service area of a 14-county radius of Elkhart County.

In Goshen and Elkhart, they contract with Republic Services, which brings recyclables from those cities' drop sites to their MRF. As for Goshen's curbside residential service, including the pink cans often seen around town, Recycling Works partners with Borden to deliver those materials to them, and with HIMCO for industrial roll-off.

"Our goal is to make it easier for them," Zelaya said, on his company's mission to divert recyclables from landfills and to increase community participation in recycling.

Using technology ranging from optics sensors to magnetics to robotics, the MRF employs 73 employees in two shifts.

"We process north of 6,000 tons a month at this facility," Zelaya said. "We do only domestic business."

The facility accepts and resells glass bottles and containers, cardboard (other than wax-covered), paper, metal and soda cans and plastics, up to No. 7 on the recycling labeling system.

MARKET-BASED

Like any number of other businesses, Recycling Works operates, and thrives, on the basic principal of supply and demand — i.e., larger trends in the business economy impacts their business as well. For example, gas prices can factor into secondary plastic pricing.

"For example, a sub component that makes up any plastic is petroleum-based," Zelaya said.

For paper, if mills don't have large orders to make large boxes, it funnels down to the suppliers, including Recycling Works. The company uses the Paper Pulp Index for monthly pricing for fibers for recyclable paper, which a year ago was nearly $200 per ton.

"You fast forward one year, you get almost $55 per ton," Zelaya said, reflecting the decrease.

Zelaya further illustrated the practical aspects in this overall process.

"It makes sense to use recycled cardboard, rather than from lumber, when they already have the infrastructure in place and have government incentives to use it," he said. "There are always legislators who are passing bills that require manufacturers to use more recyclable material in their products. That's true for the fiber, plastic and even metals industry."

CONTAMINATING THE PROCESS

Elkhart County previously ran five recycling drop-off sites, but closed them all earlier this year due to contamination — specifically with them being effectively used as dumping grounds for furniture and other items which cannot be recycled. Goshen in turn opened its own drop-off site earlier this year, on Indiana Avenue, but has been dealing with the same issue, despite security cameras being installed and a city ordinance passed in April which allows for a $500 fine to be levied for violators.

"It's not fair to those recycling correctly," Zelaya said about site contamination. "It takes one person to ruin it for the others."

Theresa Sailor is grant writer and educator for the Goshen Environmental Resilience Department.

"We continue to see some dumping," Sailor noted in July. "We also see large plastic items that may have a recycle symbol on them but they cannot be recycled through this service. Recycling services being offered at this site are limited to all paper products (paper, colored paper, cardboard, paper board, magazines, etc.) and clean household food and other household storage containers. If it is made of glass, metal, or plastic but did not hold food or other household items (like plastic storage bins), throw it away."

CARDBOARD AND SHREDDED PAPER

In an industrial area just west of Main Street on South Bend's south side, Republic Services' recycling transfer center is located, where cardboard and shredded office paper are brought in from a number of locations around Michiana, including Goshen.

"On most days that would come here," Ernest Kumpf, operations manager for hauling at the center, said of Goshen's recycling. "Other days, to our facility in Elkhart."

The center accepts carboard and shredded office paper, from routes across Michiana. After being processed there, it is shipped to Pratt, a paper mill in Valapariso, or sometimes to brokers.

The price of cardboard, at the moment, is pretty low, Kumpf explains. In the 1990s and the early 2000s period, much of it was shipped from the U.S. to overseas, particularly to China. This was until the Chinese government introduced the "Green Fence."

"It was their way of keeping contamination out of China," Kumpf said.

Kumpf said this approach worked, just not as well as the Chinese government had hoped. This in turn led to the "Chinese Sword," which effectively shut out most products being shipped into China. This created an upset market and cardboard prices went way down.

"We didn't have the infrastructure inside the U.S. to handle all this volume, and it created a bottleneck," Kumpf said.

Ron Havemann is operations manager for recycling at the facility. He said that the shredded paper they received, which is compacted into bales, is shipped to G.P. Harmon, which is part of Georgia Pacific.

"We ship maybe 21 tons a month to them," Havemann said. "It's pretty low."

Havemann said that the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact as well. Specifically, with more people at home and shopping online, such as via Amazon.com, people were having items shipped to their homes, thus having more cardboard to recycle. A large portion of their "clean" cardboard comes from the RV industry, specifically Lippert, as well as the Food Bank of Northern Indiana.

They also receive cardboard from schools and commercial accounts.

"Plastic bags really kill us," Haverman said.

Here, trash is sorted in a main pile with cardboard put on "The Green Machine" conveyer belt, which separates cardboard from trash. Their maximum rate is 30 to 40 daily tons, and a 15% trash mix is allowed per bale.

Like Recycling Works, Republic also uses the PPI, and has 71 centers nationwide.

"It's like the stock market," Kumpf said.

At this point, Republic is not planning to expand to plastic, aluminum or other materials at its South Bend facility, as that option is currently not seen as profitable.

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH

Zelaya said that his company is involved with recycling education and outreach efforts, and he himself has spoken at area schools and at Goshen College on the topic.

"I think education goes a long way," he said. "From our eyes, it's our responsibility to always continue educating the public."

Havemann shared a similar sentiment on behalf of his company, stating that to "educate the children" is a top priority.

"'Hey, Johnny, can you throw that trash bag in the recycling?'" he said about the approach many people take to simply using recycling sites as dumping grounds. "It's the kids we need to educate."

STATEWIDE EFFORTS

Barry Sneed, public information officer for the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, said that the state does not have the authority to regulate drop-off recycling sites regarding dumping and contamination of solid waste.

"Many county solid waste management districts, as well as cities and towns, have illegal dumping ordinances and installed cameras to help manage the issue," Sneed said by email. "IDEM's Office of Program Support has recycling staff available to support education and outreach efforts and provide technical assistance. Communities can also apply to the Community Recycling Grant Program for financial assistance to develop and print education materials and signage tailored to the individual needs of their community to help prevent contamination."

Sneed emphasizes that education and outreach is also a priority at the state level.

"IDEM has an outreach staff dedicated to helping reduce municipal solid waste and increase participation in community recycling programs," he said. "IDEM provides staff, grants, and technical assistance to help businesses and municipalities."

Related programs include the Community Recycling Grant Program, which provides grants up to $100,000 to assist communities' efforts to increase recycling and waste reduction. Another is the Recycling Market Development Program, which utilizes an independent board that may promote, fund, and encourage programs facilitating the development and implementation of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling in Indiana. Public and private businesses, local governments, solid waste management districts, and nonprofit organizations located and doing business in Indiana are eligible to submit funding proposals.

"Additionally, IDEM partners with communities and organizations to provide opportunities to recycle materials, such as this e-waste collection event held in Sullivan County last month," Sneed added. "IDEM strives to help communities provide information on how waste prevention, reduction activities, and recycling can be environmentally and economically beneficial, while improving overall quality of life and community."

Recycling outreach isn't limited to the state government level. Zelaya said that his company has given tours to classes from Notre Dame, city leaders from both Goshen and Elkhart, and Elkhart Community Schools. To arrange a tour, contact 800-442-9290 or 574-293-3751, #573 or contact him directly at Daniel.Zelaya@wasteawaygroup.com.

To learn more, visit wasteawaygroup.com/recycling-works.html, www.republicservices.com or www.in.gov/idem/recycle.

Another option is MyLocal.IN.gov, which provides links to government websites across the Hoosier state, including possibly their own specific recycling programs.

"You can select a county from the dropdown menu and search cities and towns with links to their local government pages on the site," Sneed said.

Steve Wilson is news editor for The Goshen News. You can reach him at steve.wilson@goshennews.com.