City to pick up MU recyclables
Profits from recycled products will be split between Columbia and MU.
Published Nov. 3, 2009
An amendment to a 25-year-old contract with the city of Columbia means MU is changing who will pick up its recyclables.
For more than two decades, Civic Recycling has provided recycling services to MU, but in an amendment authorized during Monday night's council meeting, the city will now be picking up both recycling and trash on campus.
"We've had a long-standing relationship with the university where we provide solid waste pickup," City Manager Bill Watkins said. "This contract amendment would expand it to handle recycling."
As part of the relationship, Columbia has picked up trash at MU since 1984, but the amendment to this contract states recycling pickup services will begin Jan. 1, 2010, and will continue until the end of 2014, with a five-year renewal option after this date.
According to the contract, MU and the city will be able to split profits from the sale of recycled products gathered at the university. A base amount the city must make off recycling rebates will exist, but above that level, all profits are split equally.
"We're sharing the profits 50-50," Public Works Director John Glascock said. "We view it as an incentive to recycle. It's also something that the university approached us about, so we think it's a good deal."
Gary Ward, assistant vice chancellor for Campus Facilities, said the way MU is paying for the pick-up service also encourages recycling. He said because the price of the solid waste pickups will be determined by weight, and not a flat fee, it will encourage the university to cut waste since smaller amounts of trash collected means a lower fee.
As part of the contract, the city also has a responsibility to encourage cost saving at MU. Although specifics are not included in the amendment, it does state broad objectives such as employing ideas, innovations and techniques.
MU Sustainability Coordinator Steve Burdic said those savings would come from many small but important changes, such as improving large recycling containers so they are easier for workers to move.
"It's both an infrastructure thing, which this contract represents, and it's also the human dimension of people understanding you know we have to take care of the planet," Burdic said.
He also said this amendment would allow the university to focus on recycling.
"What we can do now is concentrate on changing the trash collection containers into recycling containers," Burdic said. "Every time we can take away a trash container and replace it with a recycling container not only have we saved the entire cost of the trash container, but we have the opportunity to make some money on it, to improve our services."
To pay for these recycling services, MU will make monthly payments to the city. City documents state the projected revenues for the city providing recycling and trash services to MU are $425,400 annually.
The council's actions now mean Watkins can officially present the amendment to MU.