Lipstick on a Pig: The Delaware Solid Waste Authority

Sometimes the government comes up with a really innovative idea.

Here's one: increase a fee for services by cutting the service in half.

Here's the text of the letter the Delaware Solid Waste Authority sent out on December 17, 2007 [all the typos and odd phrasings are in the original]:

Dear Curbside Customer:


The Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) recently made some significant changes to enhance the ease in which you; the customer, can now recycle at your curbside. A few weeks ago, DSWA converted from the bags and bin system to a single-stream wheeled cart collection system. This was done to simplify the recycling process for you the customer. All materials to be recycled (newspapers, junk mail, cereal boxes, cardboard, plastic bottles and bags, aluminum and steel cans, as well as clear, brown, and green glass containers) can now be mixed together into our wheeled collection cart provided to you. No more hassle with separating recyclables or bags!

Effective January 2008, another change will be occurring to our curbside customer family. DSWA will be implementing a bi-weekly or every other week curbside collection for its customers. The cost will stay the same at $6 per month for this service; however, the frequency of pickups will be reduced from four to two pickups per month. DSWA hopes you will find this change in collection doable for you the valued customer. DSWA, like all of us, have faced increased pressure and expenses over the last several years (due to increased energy costs, truck costs, and manpower costs) thus forcing this change in service frequency. The good news is the monthly rate will stay the same!

Enclosed, please find not only our Curbside Recycling single-stream brochure but also a calendar specifying your pickup recycling schedule. Your pickup day will remain on the same day but only collected during the weeks highlighted in yellow. We hope you will find both of these informative and interesting. Once again, thank you for your understanding the changes and for making a true difference with our environment in Delaware.

Sincerely,

Rich Von Stetten
Sr. Manager of Statewide Recycling

A preliminary note: Ooops! DSWA misprinted the calendar and had to send out a correction letter in January; they didn't reprint the calendar, just told you to use the grey weeks instead of the yellow weeks.

Now let's think about all this.

DSWA used to pick up at my house every Wednesday, and yes it was a pain in the ass to do all the separating, so I welcome the change to single-stream recycling.

But if you consider all the recyclables that my house of six people and three cats generates, I can easily fill one of those gigantic barrels every week. Since DSWA, however, will only pick up that barrel every two weeks, and won't pick up additional bags, I now end up PAYING THE SAME AMOUNT to recycle about HALF AS MUCH as I did before.

Ironically, I pay for my DSWA recycling through my private AIW garbage collection service. AIW (fromerly BFI), Waste Management, and Independent Disposal (which serve my area) all strangely enough have sufficient trucks to collect not just once a week but twice a week. In fact, my EIGHT trash pickups per month cost about $25, opposed to my TWO recycling pickups costing $6.

I realize that there are strenuous objections among a lot of American citizens about even engaging in debate over Libertarian ideas with regard to privatizing parts of the educational system or resisting a singe-payer health care system.

But collecting recyclables? DSWA can privatize the BILLING for collection but not the COLLECTION itself?