Reduce, reuse, and recycle. Sounds simple enough, but variations in building size, resident participation, and trash disposal systems can make recycling at multifamily properties hard for managers to sort out. Despite the challenges, more and more managers are making it easier for residents to think green. As waste technology advances, multifamily managers are introducing cost-effective programs that help conserve the environment. Approximately 23 percent of the 11.5 million households living in buildings with 10 or more dwelling units can access recycling services, according to a recent national study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“In the past couple of years, there [have been] re-educational campaigns by the waste industry and by municipalities, and recycling has had to make a resurgence,” says Todd Tibbits, senior vice president of property services for Atlanta-based Post Properties. “Going forward, I think it's going to be something a resident comes to expect.”
DO THE RIGHT THING Multifamily communities are thinking outside the box to offer residents recycling amenities that go beyond traditional curbside programs.
Consider Avenue 64: The 224-unit apartment community in Emeryville, Calif., offers a two-chute recycling service. One chute is for trash; the other is for recyclables. All items are commingled and then separated off-site by Waste Management, a national trash-hauling company headquartered in Houston.
Residents will do the right thing and recycle if it's convenient, says John Stevens, development director for San Francisco-based BRE Properties, which manages Avenue 64. The chutes are typically located near the elevators on each floor of the building and lead to a trash room in the garage. “The costs of the additional chutes are dependent on the size of the building and the number of chutes you have in the building,” he adds. “I'd estimate it costs $12,500 per trash room for a five-story building.”
Recycled goods at Post Properties go a different route. The developer places 95-gallon bins in a centralized location for its multifamily residents. “Typically, we put out 10 containers on each property,” says Tibbits of Post Properties. “We usually dedicate five of those to newspaper and five for plastic, glass, and aluminum.” With about 20 properties in Atlanta and around 15 properties in Dallas, Post allots a total of $65,000 annually to maintain its recycling disposal.
The residents are certainly pitching in. “We're averaging three tons of recyclables per property per month,” Tibbits says. “So every month, each of our Post apartment communities is keeping three tons out of the landfills.”
But multifamily firms can feel good about more than helping the environment. “A key benefit is the overall reduction in your operating expenses and your trash-hauling costs long term,” Stevens says. Often, recycling services will pick up recycling—and trash—for less money than trash collectors, who pick up just trash.
Fees, of course, vary by firm. Post pays the waste removal company Conex Recycling a $150 flat-rate fee per property per month. Regardless of the size of the property, that service fee covers pickup and disposal of the recyclables, as well as labor and tipping fees. Post saves an estimated $100 per ton recycled, or about $120,000 a year on landfill costs, explains Shannon Sibbitt, the development director of Atlanta-based Conex.
“So it's really economical for the manager,” Sibbitt says. “Not only is it the right thing to do and provides [residents] with an amenity, but the community also is saving money on their waste. Most of them feel like $100 is worth it to participate.”
SORTING IT OUT While it's getting easier to offer recycling programs, beware of a number of pitfalls. A big one: Every city recycles differently, leaving property managers without a single standard to follow.
“You could be a manager with seven properties, and all seven could have different items you're allowed to recycle,” says Mike Ferris, president of Valet Waste, a Tampa, Fla.-based multifamily waste removal company. “Some counties only allow brown and blue glass; some will do commingled; some will only do paper and cardboard. So, it makes it difficult to set up standardization.”
When Lloyd Cobble, director of operations for Eagle Realty Group in Cincinnati, started researching potential recycling programs for the company's properties, he recognized some additional impediments to moving forward.
“Space is a huge limitation,” Cobble says. “At the properties where we do have the space, residents would have to go to a different part of the property to drop [recyclables] off, or we could buy them recycling bins for $10 each which isn't an expense we would really want to incur. So, we run the risk of the program really backfiring.”
Aesthetics is another issue to keep in mind. “In most cases waste management firms will provide you with one large container,” Cobble says. “You've got this big, almost what looks like a construction dumpster, on your property.”
And then there is the cost. Cobble found a waste removal company that charges a $4,125 start-up fee to deliver one container, plus an additional $145 per haul and $75 per month rental fee. So a lot of recyclables could cost a lot of money if you don't find a company such as Conex, which offers a more manageable fee and commingling technology.
CALL TO ACTION Unfortunately, not all firms are as pro-active as Eagle Realty Group when it comes to setting up an effective recycling program. The missing incentive to recycle may happen in the form of a mandate. While most recycling programs are voluntary, some cities, such as Atlanta and Emeryville, Calif., require mandatory participation and provide residents with the basics to recycle.
“For example, the mandate for the city of Atlanta says that all multifamily housing properties six units and above must have recycling means on the property for their tenants,” says Sibbitt of Conex Recycling. “And then they try to specify what means need to be taken for paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum.”
Mandates may not be the only driver for property managers to implement recycling programs, Ferris notes.
“The biggest key is if cities, states, municipalities, and maybe the government started giving rebates or tax credits for those who do—that would completely change the whole complexion of recycling in the country,” Ferris says. “If that happens, everyone and their grandmother will jump on board.”
Lenora Jane Estes is a freelance writer living in Evanston, Ill.
Resident Files Get Going Thinking about starting a recycling program? Consider this expert advice.
- Teamwork matters. Create a relationship with a recycling company, advises Shannon Sibbitt, the development director of Conex Recycling. Go to those experts who've been through this, she says. Waste haulers typically will provide a pickup for recyclables in order to keep or gain the overall waste contract. Property managers can contact the National Recycling Coalition for information on local venders that provide recycling.
- Keep things simple. Make recycling consistent, functional, and easy for residents. “At least half to 75 percent of the reason they're having trouble recycling at the properties is there's no convenient method for the residents to take the trash out and to recycle,” says Mike Ferris, president of Valet Waste.
- Educate residents. Because apartments have a higher turnover than single-family homes, the EPA recommends making education efforts continual and more intensive than with residents of detached homes. “It's really about education and reinforcement,” says John Stevens, BRE Properties' development director. As soon as residents move in, Stevens provides step-by-step instructions on how the recycling process works at the building.