Howard County is using new technology to not only make recycling easier for residents ? but also in the hopes of saving money.
The technology “makes everything easier … for the resident: [He or she] can dump everything into one bin, and it will be taken care of,” said Alan Wilcom, chief of the Howard County recycling division.
The Elkridge facility, owned by Waste Management and operating since June, uses “single-stream sorting,” which handles sorting the recyclables, said Elkridge recycling plant manager Dave Taylor.
Howard County currently contracts with 11 trash and recycling companies that pick up waste.
With the new technology, the companies can use single-container trucks rather than the more expensive trucks with compartments for each of the recyclables, said Wilcom.
He said he hopes the less expensive trucks, combined with fewer trips to and from the Elkridge plant, will translate into savings during contract negotiations in the next few months.
In addition, “now that [residents] don?t have to sort, we?re hoping that means we will produce more,” Wilcom said. The county gets a share of themoney ? currently about $300,000 ? for the recycled materials sold by Waste Management on the open market.
Taylor said the Elkridge machine is the fastest sorting facility in the country, sending out 800 tons of recycled paper, glass, aluminum and plastic a day, which translates to about 70 tons per hour.
“The technology is relatively simple, but it?s how you put it together that makes it special,” he said.
