This March, Seattle Public Utilities quietly rolled out an updated city-wide recycling plan with the type of efficiency critics rarely expect from government.  Billed as “Better Recycling”, the changes appease the vocal crescendo of recycle-maniacs who have been pushing for broader recycling options for years - and the top dogs in city hall who have set ambitious recycling goals.

The “better recycling” moniker is ambiguous, but the city has covered its bases.  Everything from more pick-up days, to job security, to recycling accessibility is resulting from the program.  But perhaps most interesting for us coffee-lovers is this: paper coffee cups are now recyclable.  There are a few caveats; cups that are too dirty might still be sorted for the landfill, and foam covered cups don’t make the grade.  Nonetheless, this rocked our world at SIS.  New recycling options have the potential to alleviate tons of residential and commercial waste, and advocacy groups (us included) can heave a sigh of relief knowing the city can “walk the walk”.  So does this mean we can close the books on the coffee cup issue? Or would a celebratory Irish coffee be premature?

 

Blue Skies for Eco-Coffee Drinkers

Seattle’s recycling progress should put smiles on java drinkers throughout the world’s coffee capital.  The new coffee cup rule makes recycling more convenient and accessible.  Seattleites seem prone to recycle on instinct, so tossing a cup into the right bin shouldn’t be a hard habit to change.   And public recycling receptacles are already abundant throughout most of the metro area.  It’s too early to predict any impact in quantitative terms, but past successes in Seattle are promising.  In the first year of the big composting push, Seattleites remembered to toss 80,000 tons of food and yard waste into their compost bins.  The common paper cup could very well be the summer-blockbuster sequel.

Of course, municipal reinforcements are always welcomed by environmental non-profits and advocacy groups.  Recycling centers which can handle the complex materials of a disposable coffee cup come with a big price tag.  Amidst tight budgets and a shaky economy, it’s fortunate that the upgrade wasn’t axed.

The new rules could have a big impact on long-term plans for eco-regulations too.  It’s tough to enforce recycling when options are limited.  But now that the city has stepped up to the plate, it’ll be possible to coerce those who create excessive trash to change their habits  And if the city is to hit its goal of diverting 60% of its waste to recycling and composting, this may happen soon.

 

Prevalient Clouds Still Abound

Despite the many benefits, environmentalists should be cautious not to succumb to hubris.  As far as waste solutions go, broad recycling is a proven weapon.  But conservationists cringe when “recycling” becomes the default solution to municipal environmental issues.  Sure, disposable paper cups create landfill waste, and that’s not good.  But what about trees, water, energy, petroleum, and other scarce resources gobbled up by cup production?  Because of the extra resources consumed in the pick-up and recycling process, disposable coffee cups being recycled can claim even more energy than before!  Unless new recycling trucks and sorting centers run on alternative energy, ecoists miss a flawless victory.

This solution also neglects to conserve one important resource in particular – money.  Recycling, although eco-friendly and popular, does come with a cost.  The city has to pay for the state-of-the-art recycling center, businesses must pay for recycling services, and coffee houses still have to pay for their disposable cups.  A recent Wall Street Journal article cited a coffee shop owner in Pennsylvania who lost 40 cents per cup in costs. Comparably, promoting reusable coffee cups as a solution saves money for everyone.  When it comes to a solution that’s friendly to both the financial and environmental bottom lines, recycling may take second place.

Could Seattle’s programs and commitment to recycling serve as the paragon for other municipalities?  It would be an environmentalists dream to see every town and city embrace recycling like Seattle, but the reality is less rosy.  Retrofitting a typical recycling center to process disposable coffee cups is costly and out of reach for most cities.  And even though Seattle pushed these new recycling investments through the budget process, other municipalities may not be so lucky.  I recently visited Lawrence, Kansas to speak with a campus group advocating for glass recycling in bars.  The biggest obstacle they face is that glass recycling isn’t yet available.  Chances are, spending money to recycle coffee cups is low on their priority list.

Even within the coffee capital, the new recycling solution misses a few targets.  Broad recycling may be available, but there’s no guarantee that landlords will provide such amenities to commercial tenants.  As Jim Hanna, Environmental Director for Starbucks pointed out in an SIS interview last year:

“Here in Seattle, where commercial recycling is generally available, we [Starbucks] often lease our store spaces from landlords; which may or may not provide us with recycling options… it’s important to understand that setting up recycling is subject to a lot more variables than just putting some bins out front.”

It isn’t just the torpor landlords putting up obstacles.  Large Seattle institutions like the University of Washington find themselves left out of the celebratory recycling hubbub. An article titled “New City Recycling Program Not Instituted at UW” notes that contracts with disparate waste management companies are the root cause of UW evading the new rules.  This quirky irregularity takes a more serious tone when it’s realized the campus burns through 5000 disposable cups a day. 

So…what about that Irish coffee?

Bottom line, this is a major achievement for environmental movers, the city of Seattle, and coffee lovers.  New recycling rules will undoubtedly lessen the amount of garbage from disposable drink containers.  But only the most credulous of coffee drinkers should believe that the new regulations will close the case on paper cup’s environmental footprint.  Conservation takes a back seat when recycling is driving progress, which does no good in protecting our natural resources. 

Ultimately, it’s still the responsibility of coffee drinkers and the coffee business to actually do something about paper cups.  Whether that means putting in the elbow grease to institute recycling or promoting and using reusable coffee cups, the city government can only do so much.  

 

Tags: activist, Better, BYOC, coffee, coffee house, compost, Conservation, Cost, cups, disposable, eco, ecoist, Expense, garbage, goals, Greg Nickels, is, java, Litter, Management, Mayor, paper, Public, recycle manicas, Recycling, Recyleable, reusable, Seattle, sexy, successful, sustainability, Trash, triple bottom line, Utilities, waste, waste reduction