Brandon Twp.- Township officials want to hear about residents? current habits and opinions on waste hauling and recycling.
Supervisor Kathy Thurman said she hopes to have a survey online at the township website, www.brandontownship.us, this week. Questions asked of residents will include: who is your current service provider, what does your service currently include, what services would you like to have access to or see improved, what would motivate or allow you to recycle more, would you prefer houses in your neighborhood to have trash collected on the same day and would you favor a township coordinated contract on services if you could save money.
‘We are trying to learn what the community values as far as waste and recycling services are concerned,? said Thurman. ‘Certainly the survey will be an influencing factor on how we proceed.?
Anna Collinson of Resource Recycling Systems formulated the questions. Collinson also updated the township board on Monday night about a study the Ann Arbor-based company is conducting for several north Oakland County communities, including Brandon and Groveland townships, on development of a system to handle solid waste for Brandon and Groveland. The study is paid for by a Capital and Cooperative Initiative Revolving Fund grant.
The study seeks to answer three questions: whether there are efficiencies in working together; what systems can increase recycling and waste diversion; and whether emerging technologies are feasible.
Thus far, Collinson said, the answer to the first question is yes. She cited No-HAZ and SOCRRA as examples. SOCCRA and RRRASOC, are waste consortiums in the southern and western ends of the county. Several communities contract together for one waste hauler, allowing them to negotiate lower rates.
Brandon and Groveland townships use subscription-based services, in which residents contract their own waste hauling services. Collinson noted during her presentation that most systems other than subscription services are the ones that will increase recycling and waste diversion. Other systems she cited include contracted services, preferred hauler, municipal provided services and ordinance/licensing model.
Rochester Hills, for example, recently started a community wide contract for waste hauling services which includes offering recycling to residents in which they don’t have to divide their recyclables and can even earn rewards for their green efforts.
According to the study, Brandon has a baseline population of 13,897 (comprising 3,881 single family households) that will produce 4,693 tons of waste, 306 tons of recycled materials, and 1,026 tons of yard waste in 2009.
If the community were to participate in ‘single stream? recycling, an easy form of recycling in which items are not required to be separated, the annual cost per household is estimated to be $146.07 annually. Single stream recycling with incentives would be $152.81 per household annually, while single stream recycling with incentives and organics collection would be $154.63 per household annually.
The study continues to research the cost of conversion technologies, an alternative to landfills. Collinson expects the study to conclude in a few weeks. At that time, final recommendations will be made and presented to the township boards.