Kevin Dwyer hands off a pile of paper and cardboard to be recycled to Roy Miller.
These Briny Breezes volunteers — along with Roger Hebert — were riding in a trailer
driven by Ken Doyle during a recent recycling run.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Jane Smith
The Briny Breezes recycling crew starts gathering at the Quonset hut on the west side of Ocean Boulevard at 7:45 a.m. Mondays.
During the season, 10 volunteers use three golf carts and a pickup truck with wagons to collect newspapers, magazines and cardboard from the mobile home park residents.
Ken Doyle, at age 79, is the designated driver of the pickup with its hand-cranked windows. Three volunteers ride in the makeshift wagon pulled by the truck.
“I asked (volunteer Roy Miller) about how I could help, and Roy said be at the Quonset hut by 8 a.m. on Mondays,” said Kevin Dwyer, who has been part of the crew for 16 years. Dwyer, the youngest man, often jumps out of the wagon to pick up paper bags stuffed with newspapers. They frown on papers stuffed in plastic bags because they can’t be recycled and require an extra trip to a grocery store where they are collected.
As Doyle drives slowly through the narrow streets, Don Hebert, originally from New Hampshire, and Miller, originally from Massachusetts, yell, “YO!” when Doyle drives by a bag or a box full of newspapers. The men give a royal wave to the residents sitting on their porches or inside their mobile homes.
In 30 minutes, they are finished collecting from their district of the park.
That in-person service gave Briny Breezes the highest per-capita recycling rate of .94 tons among South County coastal communities, according to data recently released by the Solid Waste Authority.
No. 2 among coastal communities is the town of South Palm Beach. Its per capita recycling rate is .86.
“That is the result of the fact that we are a town of condo buildings and have recycling units in a common trash collection area,” said Town Manager Rex Taylor. “We’ve done a good job with the collection areas. (When you are) taking the trash down, might as well take the recyclables with you.”
The town also mentions the recycling program in its newsletters.
Highland Beach ranks No. 3 with a per capita recycling rate of .74 tons.
The town educates residents about recycling through its quarterly newsletter and its TV station — channel 99 on Comcast, said Zoie Burgess, assistant to the town manager. It encourages residents to recycle by providing bins to condo and single-family-home residents.
Since 2010, the Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County has shared recycling revenues with each city, less the processing costs.
All managers of the coastal communities reached for this story said they use the recycling revenue in their general funds.
Ocean Ridge ranks fourth with a per capita rate of .61 tons. Republic Services has its waste removal contract and picks up recyclables weekly.
“When new people move in, they are made aware of the recycling program,” said Ken Schenck, town manager.
The town of Gulf Stream ranks sixth at .45 tons per capita. Town Manager William Thrasher said residents receive recycling bins that are picked up weekly by Waste Management.
Ranking fifth was Manalapan at .53 tons per capita. Its town manager, Linda Stumpf, could not be reached for comment.
The Solid Waste Authority does not keep track of recyclables collected by the portions of cities with residents living on the barrier island. As a result, partial rates for Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Lantana could not be determined.
The agency also does not keep track of individual recycling rates for the cities because few self-haul their trash, according to Willie Puz, agency spokesman. Most of the cities contract with four haulers.
The county’s curbside recycling rate was 38.6 percent in 2013. When energy credits are included, the county’s rate is 55 percent, well on the way to meeting the state’s goal of 75 percent by 2020.
But when the county’s multimillion-dollar waste-to-energy plant comes online early next year, the county will be able to include that energy generated in its recycling rate. When that plant is working, the recycling rate will increase even more, Puz said.
Recycling: Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Lantana
The Solid Waste Authority of Palm Beach County rewards cities for their recycling efforts by sharing revenue with them less the processing cost. The agency does not track individual city recycling rates because few cities self-haul trash to the landfills. The county’s curbside recycling rate was 38.6 percent in 2013. When energy credits are included, the county’s rate is 55 percent, well on the way to meeting the state’s goal of 75 percent by 2020.
Boca Raton - 2014 total revenue reimbursed: $120,338.19.
Total revenue reimbursed since 2010: $1.1 million
Total tons recycled since 2010: 38,008.14
Per capita* tons recycled: .44
Delray Beach - 2014 total revenue reimbursed: $78,377.14.
Total revenue reimbursed since 2010: $678,469.87.
Total tons recycled since 2010: 23,724.63.
Per capita tons recycled: .38
Lantana - 2014 total revenue reimbursed: $12,137.39.
Total revenue reimbursed since 2010: $117,344.19.
Total tons recycled since 2010: 4,097.68.
Per capita tons recycled: .38
*Based on 2014 population estimates from University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research
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