By: E&P Staff Last month the Dallas city council passed an ordinance adding restrictions to outdoor public paper-recycling containers, a move that may cause a major supplier to reduce the number of bins.
As of Dec. 31, a lot may contain no more than two bins, which must be screened from view and emptied weekly. Through its Paper Retriever program, newsprint maker AbitibiBowater Inc. supplies as many as six bins at locations owned by non-profit organizations such as schools and places or worship. In all, the company says it has 562 bins, most in community affiliates' parking lots.
A violation can bring a $2,000 fine.
The council took the action -- which applies as well to the city's own growing number of mixed-recyclables bins -- because the bins are considered unattractive and sometimes overflow with paper.
The Dallas Morning News' Dave Levinthal quoted council member Ron Natinsky calling the measure "simply a matter of keeping the curb appeal of our city good, and keeping the city clean."
AbitibiBowater, which pays affiliates $20 per ton of collected paper, said in a statement, "The law will make it difficult to maintain the current number of bins and may lower local recycling rates while reducing the income for participating organizations.
In his report, Levinthal quotes AbitibiBowater North American Recycling Vice President Sylvain Longval saying, "The city is basically telling us how to run our business. It will make it difficult for us to keep as many bins as we have now."
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