The panel will come to the City Council in January with its recommendations.
By: Linda Seida
LAMBERTVILLE The committee charged with investigating options for plastics recycling did not present its report to the City Council this week as planned because its members need more time to gather information.
The committee will return to the council with its recommendations in January. Members of the committee need the extension because "there are a lot of innovative things out there," said Chairman Georg Hambach. "We’d like to get enough information."
The council dismissed one option in August because of the cost and the limited types of plastics that could be accommodated. Mayor David Del Vecchio appointed the ad hoc committee to investigate other possibilities.
There are various options available, but none has been selected yet.
One option is an incentive program that would reward residents for recycling. At the same time, the incentive program also would charge the city a fee per household.
It’s unclear at this point if this type of program would be feasible.
"We have to crunch the numbers," Mr. Hambach said.
An incentive program also would allow residents to recycle in a "single-stream" method, avoiding the need to separate the recycled goods by type of material. All of the recyclables would be dumped into one container.
The container would be labeled with a barcode for identification purposes. A specially outfitted truck, able to read the barcode and record the weight of the recyclables, would pick up the container.
At the end of the month, each household would be given a rebate, which could be exchanged for goods at such national chains as Home Depot and Staples. Or the city also would have the option of adding local merchants, Mr. Hambach said.
If the volume of recycled materials increases, it’s possible the city could need a larger compressor truck. Right now, about 24 percent of the garbage thrown out consists of recyclables, according to Mr. Hambach. That figure could increase to perhaps 35 percent or even 40 percent, he said.
The cost of the truck could equal about $150,000, but it’s possible the city could recoup that cost over time, Mr. Hambach said.
By taking recyclables out of the main garbage stream and removing them from landfills, the city might be able to reduce the tipping fees it pays and maybe even make something from selling the recycled plastics.
The possibility of recycling cardboard and papers such as envelopes and mailers also is being investigated.
"We’re hoping to at least break even," Mr. Hambach said. "If we can make a few bucks, that would be great."
Lambertville pays a tipping fee of $68 per ton to dispose of its garbage. In 2005, the city dumped 2,300 tons of garbage, according to Public Works Director Paul Cronce.
"Theoretically, it should lighten the load," Mr. Cronce said. "But neither (plastics nor cardboard) weighs very much. It’s an unknown."
In August, officials threw out a proposal that would have raised taxes to cover the estimated $134,000 cost of starting a plastics recycling program. If officials had approved it, the final OK would have gone to voters as a ballot question.
For the owner of a house assessed at the city average of $330,775, taxes would have increased by about $66 or 2 cents per every $100 of assessed valuation.
The only types of plastics that would have been accepted were laundry detergent jugs and bottles that hold milk, soda or water.
The city’s recycling program now does not include any type of plastics. It includes only newspapers, magazines, glass bottles and aluminum, tin and metal cans.

