Fort Oglethorpe considering recycling program
Mar 11, 2010 | 816 views | 0 
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The city of Fort Oglethorpe is interested in offering a recycling program through RecycleBank.
RecycleBank has more than a million customers in 20 states, according to its website. To date, the amount of re-cycling by these customers has enabled RecycleBank to save cities tens of millions of dollars annually in landfill disposal fees, save more than 1.5 million trees, and save millions of gallons of oil.
The company is kicking off a program in Hamilton County, Tenn., in April. Atlanta is also starting a program.
“We need to participate,” Fort Oglethorpe mayor Ronnie Cobb said.
Michael D’Angelo with RecycleBank spoke to the Fort Oglethorpe City Council before the regular March 8 City Council meeting.
RecycleBank is an incentive-based program. Fort Oglethorpe residents will receive a 95-gallon cart to use for storing recyclables. The carts will be labeled with what recyclables the company accepts, including plastics No. 1-7, cardboard, newspaper, junk mail, aluminum, and tin. Glass will not be accepted.
These carts have radio frequency identification tags that allow RecycleBank to measure the amount of recycling in pounds a certain community accumulates at each pickup.
The technology does not allow for individual counts. The rewards are averaged for a community and dispersed to each household.
The pounds of recyclables are converted into redeemable points, about 2.5 points for every pound.
The points can be redeemed for coupons. RecycleBank has many cooperating national brands and stores, like Coca-Cola, Target, Purina, Kraft, Olive Garden, and Publix.
The company also has a 90-day implementation period during which representatives talk to local restaurants and businesses about submitting coupons for use in the redeemable points program.
The customers can keep track of and redeem their points online at recyclebank.com or through a toll-free phone line.
RecycleBank also offers a Green Schools program. To be eligible for this program, the school has to submit a grant proposal for an environmentally friendly project. When this project is approved, RecycleBank customers can donate their points to the project, which will come to the school in the form of cash.
The city of Fort Oglethorpe has contracted with Republic Services for garbage pickup for more than 15 years.
Republic Services would have to provide the carts to their customers and add the recycling pick up to their routes.
A $5 to $6 charge would be added to each customer’s monthly garbage bill. The average home will earn that fee back with one week’s worth of recycling points.
The recycling pickup will occur every other week, while the trash pickup will continue every week.
Because recycling will decrease the amount of garbage, the cost of the garbage service or the frequency of trash pickup could decrease as well.
RecycleBank has more than a million customers in 20 states, according to its website. To date, the amount of re-cycling by these customers has enabled RecycleBank to save cities tens of millions of dollars annually in landfill disposal fees, save more than 1.5 million trees, and save millions of gallons of oil.
The company is kicking off a program in Hamilton County, Tenn., in April. Atlanta is also starting a program.
“We need to participate,” Fort Oglethorpe mayor Ronnie Cobb said.
Michael D’Angelo with RecycleBank spoke to the Fort Oglethorpe City Council before the regular March 8 City Council meeting.
RecycleBank is an incentive-based program. Fort Oglethorpe residents will receive a 95-gallon cart to use for storing recyclables. The carts will be labeled with what recyclables the company accepts, including plastics No. 1-7, cardboard, newspaper, junk mail, aluminum, and tin. Glass will not be accepted.
These carts have radio frequency identification tags that allow RecycleBank to measure the amount of recycling in pounds a certain community accumulates at each pickup.
The technology does not allow for individual counts. The rewards are averaged for a community and dispersed to each household.
The pounds of recyclables are converted into redeemable points, about 2.5 points for every pound.
The points can be redeemed for coupons. RecycleBank has many cooperating national brands and stores, like Coca-Cola, Target, Purina, Kraft, Olive Garden, and Publix.
The company also has a 90-day implementation period during which representatives talk to local restaurants and businesses about submitting coupons for use in the redeemable points program.
The customers can keep track of and redeem their points online at recyclebank.com or through a toll-free phone line.
RecycleBank also offers a Green Schools program. To be eligible for this program, the school has to submit a grant proposal for an environmentally friendly project. When this project is approved, RecycleBank customers can donate their points to the project, which will come to the school in the form of cash.
The city of Fort Oglethorpe has contracted with Republic Services for garbage pickup for more than 15 years.
Republic Services would have to provide the carts to their customers and add the recycling pick up to their routes.
A $5 to $6 charge would be added to each customer’s monthly garbage bill. The average home will earn that fee back with one week’s worth of recycling points.
The recycling pickup will occur every other week, while the trash pickup will continue every week.
Because recycling will decrease the amount of garbage, the cost of the garbage service or the frequency of trash pickup could decrease as well.
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