Starting Thursday, any apartment complex in Little Rock with 100 units or more must offer single-stream recycling to its tenants.
The Little Rock Board of Directors passed an ordinance in March that requires recycling to be offered at the larger multifamily complexes in the city. The mandate was proposed by Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, who cited a 2010 and 2011 pilot program with three complexes in Pulaski County.
About 100 complexes in Little Rock have 100 or more units. They make up 83 percent -- or 19,485 units -- of all multifamily housing in the city.
"Before this ordinance, multifamily residents who wanted to recycle had to take the initiative to collect their recyclables and drive these to drop-off locations across the city. We expect the participation in Little Rock's recycling program to increase at multifamily locations because it is now convenient to join this effort," said Luis Gonzalez, the city's marking and communications manager.
Ron Goss, president of Rector Phillips Morse Inc., which manages about 3,500 apartment units in the city, said his company decided to implement recycling before the Jan. 1 deadline. They initially thought the cost to recycle would end up being a wash, Goss said, but now think it will save them money in the long run.
Plus, "it was the right thing to do," he added.
"It has turned out to be a process of educating the tenants. While we are not getting the full participation of the tenants, those that are participating are following the rules of the recycling program and we have very little contamination, as reported by the vendor," Goss said. "We believe as education is continued and tenants become more aware of the importance of playing their part in this program, the number of participants will increase, thus balancing out our expense."
The city has an 80 percent participation in its single-stream recycling program from 58,000 eligible single-family households, according to Gonzalez. That compares to the average recycling participation of about 34 percent, he said.
"Little Rock's multifamily recycling ordinance is the first of its kind in Arkansas, and other cities are waiting to see how things go in Little Rock before considering similar ordinances in other municipalities," Gonzalez said.
Single-stream recycling is where a person can recycle glass, paper and aluminum in one trash bin without separating them.
Stodola said he proposed the requirement because the city is working hard to be a leader in sustainable living. He said the city has been sending letters to remind property managers of the mandate. The city has also provided property managers with signs and pamphlets to inform their tenants.
After the larger complexes come into compliance with the ordinance, Stodola hopes to create a requirement for smaller multifamily residences. He said that some properties smaller than 100 units have already elected to offer recycling.
"I don't think people realize how many of our citizens live in multifamily housing, primarily apartment complexes. There's about 26,000 units," Stodola said.
When the recycling ordinance was first presented in February, most property managers were receptive to the idea, though they had questions about the cost, they told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The 2010 and 2011 pilot program conducted by the Pulaski County Solid Waste Management District had mixed results. The district partnered with Waste Management to offer recycling at three complexes -- one in Little Rock, one in North Little Rock and one in Maumelle.
The Little Rock complex, St. Johns Apartments on 65th Street, withdrew from the program early because of lack of participation. But at its replacement, Calais Forest Apartments in west Little Rock, the participation was so good that the complex managers decided to keep recycling after the program ended.
The ordinance to take affect in January also requires multifamily residences to provide information fliers to housing staff members and tenants.
The ordinance doesn't specify repercussions for nonparticipation, but Stodola said if property managers don't comply they may be issued citations and have to appear in environmental court. He said he didn't expect it to come to that.
Metro on 12/29/2014