Trash firms may be told to recycle
Under an ordinance set to be considered by Boston city councilors today, commercial waste haulers could lose their licenses if they don't offer recycling services to customers.
Proponents said the requirement should improve recycling by businesses in Boston. The ordinance also would reinforce a state "waste ban" that restricts recyclables such as paper, glass, and plastic from being disposed of in a landfill, incinerator, or transfer station.
"If there's an area that we can improve in, it would be recycling," said City Councilor Michael P. Ross, who drafted the proposal.
There are about 30 such waste haulers licensed in Boston, according to James W. Hunt III, the city's chief of environmental and energy services. Hunt said the city doesn't keep track of how many haulers already offer recycling services or how much recyclable waste they pick up. But he said that under the city's residential bin program for curbside recycling about 19,000 tons of recyclable waste were picked up during the last fiscal year, which ended June 30. That's less than 9 percent of the 221,215 tons of trash collected.
Under the proposal, which would take effect in March, commercial haulers would be required to:
Offer customers a recycling option.
Provide information about their program, as well as recycling in general.
Tell the city how many customers they serve, how many opt to recycle, and how much recyclable waste they collect annually.
Haulers that don't comply would face fines - $150 for a first offense and $300 for a second one - and could have their licenses revoked if they still fail to offer recycling as an option.
"The goal of this is really to help those businesses that want to do the right thing to have easy access to recycling services," Hunt said.
Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com. 