Waste_Inbox

Compulsory Collection: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a new mandatory waste collection system in nearby Gwinnett County is up and running, and, despite some early glitches, seems to be working well.

Waste and recycling collection are both up substantially in the county since the plan commenced, and the initial flood of callers with complaints and questions has slowed to a manageable flow, officials said.

"Gwinnett began a trash collection program July 1 that for the first time requires county residents to sign up for the service," the AJC reports. "Previously, an estimated 20,000 out of nearly 190,000 households in the unincorporated sections of the county declined to pay for trash collection. [County solid waste director Casey] Snyder said the five private haulers who now handle the county’s trash business collected 15,520 tons of garbage in July. That’s nearly half the 34,727 tons collected from April through June under the old plan. Haulers also collected 2,029 tons of recyclable material in July, compared with 2,342 tons from May through June."

County officials say the collection increases indicate that a substantial number of residents had been disposing of their trash illegally until the county began requiring them to pay for garbage service.

Gadget Venture: Reuters reports that Coinstar, the company known for its Redbox DVD rental kiosks in supermarkets (my wife loves Redbox), is dipping its toe in the electronic scrap market by entering into a venture with EcoATM, an operator of kiosks that pay consumers who turn in old cell phones, iPods, laptops and similar gadgets.

EcoATM, whose kiosks scan the devices to establish their cash value and pay consumers immediately, is based in San Diego. We profiled the company in our March 15, 2010, issue.

Pete Fehrenbach is managing editor of Waste & Recycling News. Past installments of this column are collected in the Inbox archive.

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