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Microchips in bins will track recycling in Dayton

Go green to cut costs, city tells residents

Waste Collection Department workers assemble thousands of bins that have microchips in the handles to monitor recycling efforts by Dayton residents. Fred Stovall, director of Public Works for Dayton, said the bins will be distributed beginning in the spring.

Staff photo by Ron Alvey Waste Collection Department workers assemble thousands of bins that have microchips in the handles to monitor recycling efforts by Dayton residents. Fred Stovall, director of Public Works for Dayton, said the bins will be distributed beginning in the spring.

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 1:17 PM Thursday, February 11, 2010

DAYTON — Starting this spring, Dayton residents will be encouraged to recycle more trash, and the city will distribute new jumbo bins embedded with microchips to track citizen participation.

“We’re doing this to save money,” said Fred Stovall, the city’s director of Public Works.

It is cheaper for cities to dump recyclable materials than trash in landfills. Dayton pays Rumpke Recycling $14 per ton to dispose of recyclable materials, called a tipping fee. Montgomery County charges $38.25 per ton to tip trash, a $1 per ton increase over last year.

About 27 percent of Dayton’s residents recycle, but only account for about 3 percent of the city’s waste stream.

Dayton’s new blue recyclable bins will resemble the green trash containers already used by the city.

The microchips, which use radio frequency identification technology, are installed in the bin handles. Four city waste collection trucks will be equipped to read the microchips that will be associated with specific street addresses.

A $500,000 federal stimulus grant will pay for a consultant to design a campaign promoting recycling for Dayton, the purchase of 8,500, 96-gallon recycling containers and equipping trucks to read the microchips.

Centerville and Oakwood leaders also have seen the financial value of growing recycling participation.

Centerville’s “Going Green through Recycling” was a yearlong event in 2009. The city produced a cable TV program on recycling, and every resident received a guidebook. About 19 percent of Centerville’s waste comes from recycling.

Oakwood uses a three-tiered approach to grow recycling. New residents receive information about city services when they sign up for water and sewer service.

Cincinnati began a similar push to save money through recycling in 2007. The goal of the Green Cincinnati Recycling Plan was to increase recycling participation by 50 percent during four years.

“We’ve cruised by that 50 percent increase mark,” Jason Barron, spokesman for the city said.

The city created downtown recycling drop-off locations, online sign-ups for recycling, and a tailgating program before Cincinnati Bengals home games.

A $60,000 grant from Montgomery County enabled Dayton to purchase 1,300 of the recyclable bins, at a cost of $46.97 each.

Because of the expense, the bins will be phased into the city’s 60,000 households over several years at a total cost of $1.6 million.

The bins will be distributed at no cost to customers, Stovall said.

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