Picture a hilly area in the flatlands of eastern Boulder County, but the "hills" are huge piles of recyclable paper and various containers.

You'd have, in reality, a typical day at the Boulder County Recycling Center (BCRC) at 1901 63rd Street. BCRC employees spend tons of time separating the tons of different types of recyclables Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126, or at valenty@coloradodaily.com.

You’d have, in reality, a typical day at the Boulder County Recycling Center (BCRC) at 1901 63rd Street. BCRC employees spend tons of time separating the tons of different types of recyclables – so manufacturers can re-use the containers or paper in products made out of recycled materials, and to divert the solid waste from landfills.

But countywide solid waste diversion rates haven’t yet hit Boulder County’s goals of 50 percent by 2010 and “zero waste, or darn near” by 2025, so county residents should expect to see some changes in their waste disposal world in the near future.

Many City of Boulder and other county residents have already seen one key change – a switch to “single-stream” recycling – that will be available to many residents some time this year. Under a single-stream system, residents can put recyclable paper products and commingled containers in the same bin, as opposed to the “old” system in which people had to put paper and containers in separate bins.

As for the space where the second bin once was – many city and county residents will soon have a bin for regular collections of compostable organic materials such as food waste and yard waste.

In theory, the ease of single-stream recycling plus the new organic material pickup service could allow residents to throw less material out as trash. So, trash haulers doing business in the county will soon charge residential customers on a “Pay-As-You-Throw” (PAYT) basis, in which the haulers might set a rate for picking up one standard-sized trash can but charge extra for additional cans.

Jeff Callahan, Division Manager with the Boulder County Resource Conservation Division, said on Monday that PAYT is “the number-one method” of reducing residential waste generation, since the potential cost of picking up extra bins can incentivize people to compost or recycle.

“Communities that have implemented the system have seen the rate of recycling increase by about 50 percent,” said Callahan in a county press release.

The three main strategies listed above – single-stream, organic pick-up and PAYT – were included in a Waste Hauler Ordinance that the Board of Boulder County Commissioners adopted in December 2007. Waste hauling companies will have until roughly October 1, 2008 to implement the recycling and composting components of the ordinance.

Also, Callahan and friends will include community outreach and education as part of the effort. For starters, the Resource Conservation Division will hold at least three community meetings to explain the new programs.

One will be on Wednesday, June 18 at the Boulder County Parks and Open Space building, 520 St. Vrain Road in Longmont. Two meetings will be held at the BCRC – on Thursday, June 19 and Thursday, June 26 – and all three meetings run from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.

Also, Callahan said it would be very helpful if recyclers would make sure everything they put in a recycling bin belongs in the recycling bin.

For example, information from the most recent EcoCycle Times newsletter said plastic bags are “far and away the WORST contaminant” in the recycling bin. Callahan said employees at the BCRC must spend extra time separating plastic bags from the mix, while EcoCycle Times said it’s even worse if employees have to rip open plastic bags to recover materials – and the bags themselves generally wind up in the landfill.

Callahan said putting certain types of metal in with the recyclable cans could damage BCRC equipment, and said recycling plastic bottles with the caps still on can create difficulties in the baling process. Recyclers can bring scrap metal directly to the BCRC, but plastic bottle caps are not recyclable.

Also, while it’s probably a good idea to shred paper that includes sensitive personal information, it shouldn’t go in the single-stream bin.

Callahan said people could bring shredded paper to the drop-off center and put it in a bin for paperboard. Hilary Collins, Resource Conservation Division Assistant Manager, said shredded paper has very little value as a material for recycling, and recommended that people only shred paper with confidential information on it.

Collins also said increasing the use of organic composting and recycling could be important in the fight against global warming, since decomposition in landfills creates methane gas – which the EPA has said is a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Callahan said he anticipates that there will be lots of questions as the new systems are rolled out, but he said trash hauling companies will send out information, and the county will hold additional meetings if necessary. Collins added that there is a great deal of information about recycling and composting on the EcoCycle Web site, www.ecocycle.org.

FYI :For more information about the Boulder County Resource Conservation Division, visit the Web site http://www.bouldercounty.org/recycling/index.htm.

Contact Richard Valenty about this story at (303) 443-6272 ext. 126, or at valenty@coloradodaily.com.