&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA-530-F-99-022h
October 1999
www.epa.gov/osw
Syracuse, New York
Public Housing
20% Waste Reduction Rate at Toomey Abbott Tower
Residents in Syracuse Housing Authority's (SHA) public housing have
been recycling since 1990. Programs are designed uniquely for each
building and include door-to-door pick-up of both trash and
recyclables in some high-rise buildings. In 1997, an estimated 80-90%
of all SHA households recycled. At Toomey Abbott Tower, SHA's largest
building, residents recycled an estimated 20% of their solid waste in 1997, allowing
SHA to avoid over $6,000 in disposal charges.
Program Description
In 1990, responding to a number of local and
state regulations, the Syracuse Housing
Authority (SHA) instituted recycling in
apartment buildings under its
jurisdiction. In 1997, residents in
Toomey Abbott Tower, SHA's largest
building (308 households on 22
floors), recycled an estimated 20% of
their solid waste.
Because SHA buildings vary in
size, type, age, available space, and
resident make-up, recycling programs
are different in each building. Where
space allows, residents receive door-to-
door pick-up of both trash and
recyclables. In some high-rises,
residents receive door-to-door pick-up
of recyclables, but must bring trash to a
chute, which empties into a basement
compactor.
In 1997, Toomey Abbott Tower
residents brought trash and recyclables
to a common collection room on each
floor. In this building and similar high-
rise buildings, residents put mixed
containers in 95-gallon bins, mixed
paper in brown paper bags either next
to or in the larger container, and
flattened corrugated cardboard next
to containers. Maintenance staff
collect containers and bring them
outside for SHA's contractor to pick up. SHA
contracts with Raite Rubbish Removal, a local
company, for trash and recyclables pick-up
from all SHA buildings.
Before the program began, SHA distributed
5-gallon pails for recyclables to apartments and
14-gallon bins to town homes. These
containers, paid for by the Onondaga County
Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA), are
labeled by unit number.
SHA buildings have little landscaping.
Grounds crews leave grass clippings on lawns;
they put the small amount of raked leaves and
the occasional downed branch into buildings'
regular trash bins.
Outreach Activities
Before program inception, SHA
representatives attended tenant meetings
where they announced and explained the
Materials Collected
#1 and #2 plastic bottles
Glass food and beverage containers
Metal food and beverage containers
Aluminum foil and pans
Aerosol cans
Newspaper
Mixed paper (office paper, greeting cards,
magazines, wrapping paper, single-ply
cardboard)
Milk and juice cartons
Corrugated cardboard
This profile is part of the fact sheet Complex Recycling Issues: Strategies for Record-Setting Waste Reduction in Multi-
Family Dwellings (EPA-530-F-99-022).
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forthcoming recycling program. In
many buildings, SHA began new trash
collection procedures at the same time
it began recycling. At the program
outset, SHA created outreach materials
by adapting some of the county's
literature and writing some of its own
materials. (SHA now uses Onondaga
County-produced outreach literature.)
In addition, OCRRA and SHA staff
conducted one-on-one resident
training by going door-to-door and
explaining to tenants what to recycle,
how to prepare it, and where to put it.
Implementation went very smoothly.
SHA has a Property Care Ticket
program whereby SHA staff can ticket
residents for various offenses, including
not disposing of trash or recycling
correctly. For the first improper
recycling offense, SHA fines residents
$5. In the first year of recycling, SHA
issued 224 fines. Residents can appeal
the fine. Generally, any appeal will
result in fine dismissal. SHA believes
the opportunity to explain the
importance of recycling and how to do
it correctly is of more value than
collecting the $5.
SHA's one recycling coordinator
works 9-1:30 daily. She inspects
recycling containers in buildings where
trash and recyclables are picked up
door-to-door. When she finds an
apartment where residents are not
recycling correctly she speaks to the
people who live there or leaves a
Property Care "reminder ticket." The
reminder ticket tells people what
they've done wrong and how to correct
it. If residents continue to recycle
improperly after numerous reminder
tickets and verbal warnings, the
recycling coordinator will report
residents to the Housing Authority,
which will then fine residents.
Buildings have a high turnover.
New residents get some recycling
training when they move in, but may
need more. The recycling coordinator
conducts individual training when she
finds problems, and encourages people
to continue participating.
Costs/Benefits
SHA contracts directly with the hauler
for trash and recycling service. In
1990, SHA issued an invitation to haulers
to bid for a new, well-documented trash
and recycling contract. The winning bid
included a stipulation that SHA would
pay for services based partly on the
number of apartments rented each
month. This contract saved SHA
$120,000 per year over its previous trash
contract. Through most of 1997,293 of
Toomey Abbott Tower's 308 apartments
were rented.
At buildings with door-to-door pick-
up, SHA pays its contractor $0.30 per
container for recycling. For other
buildings, SHA pays from $0.7040.76 per
95-gallon container pick-up. At Toomey
Abbott Tower, SHA pays $0.76. The
recycling coordinator's salary is included
in SHA recycling costs. Although not
included in recycling fees, SHA's costs for
maintenance staff have not increased
since it began recycling.
For trash at Toomey Abbott Tower,
SHA pays the hauler a tip fee plus a $40
perdumpster pull. In summer 1998, SHA
paid an $81 per ton tip fee.
In 1997, SHA paid approximately
$26,180 for trash removal and
approximately $460 for recycling service
at Toomey Abbott Tower. Based on 293
occupied households, this translates into
approximately $187 per ton and $90 per
household for trash service. Recycling
service cost approximately $13 per ton
and $2 per household.
Tips for Replication
• Involve residents in program.
• Provide clear, simple explanatory
materials.
• Interact with residents. Explain in
person how and what to recycle.
• Hand out flyers when new
materials are added.
• Provide feedback. Mail residents
letters and talk to them.
Contact:
Mark Liptak
Tenant Services
Supervisor
Syracuse Housing Agency
516BurtStreet
Syracuse, NY 13202
(315) 475-6181 fax (315) 470-4203
Program Summary, Toomey Abbott Tower, 1997
Start Date
Type of Multi-Family Buildings
Households Served
Total Waste Generated (Tons)
Disposed
Diverted
Total Diverted
Average Generation (Ibs./HH/day)
Disposed
Diverted
SHA Costs (per Ton)
Disposal
Diversion
SHA Costs (per HH per Year)
Disposal
Diversion
1990
22 story high-rise
293
175
140
35
20%
3.3
2.6
0.7
$187
$13
$91
$89
$2
HH = household SHA = Syracuse Housing Authority
Note: ILSR converted trash amounts from volume to weight using the conversion factor 2 cubic yards = 750
pounds. ILSR estimated recyclables tonnage from volume data using the conversion 1 cubic yard of recyclables-
246 pounds.
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