Divide and conquer

PALMER — Why start a business in this economy? How about for a higher calling.

Ready Recycles came to life because Joe and Connie Mazut saw a need for a curbside recycling pick-up service in the Mat-Su Valley. Instead of asking some waste management company to expand its offerings or waiting for a government-implemented program, the couple started signing up their friends for the collection service.

For $18 a month, single-family residential customers get a once-a-week pick up. Residents will set out their mixed recycling, and Joe will come by with his Jeep pulling a trailer with nine containers.

At the curb, Joe separates paper from the plastics from the cardboard from the cans, placing each in the correct container. He leaves behind anything that cannot be recycled and hauls the rest to the Valley Community for Recycling Solutions facility on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Ready Recycles also services businesses and schools, with rates and frequency of pick-ups based on volume.

With an area of coverage as far west as Settlers Bay and Vine Road, and as far east as Bodenburg Loop, Joe said the recycling service had just 12 customers when it started Nov. 1. Now, it has expanded to more than 100 residents, businesses of all sizes and five schools, including Mat-Su College. There’s plenty of room to expand to areas with sufficient demand and contracts with four other schools are beginning next school year.

The benefits of curbside recycling are numerous, Joe said. First and foremost, it gets more people recycling. “Our landfills are filling up too much. A lot of this material can be reused.”

The process for recycling old material into new uses much less energy than starting from scratch, he said. Take paper, for example. For a new ream of paper, a machine uses diesel fuel to cut down the trees and diesel fuel to haul the trees to the mill. The mill uses energy to turn the trees into pulp, and the paper plant uses more energy to turn the pulp into paper. Recycling cuts out many of these steps, Joe said.

Not only does recycling cut energy in the manufacturing process, he said, but Ready Recycles cuts down the energy it takes to recycle. Instead of 100 residential customers going to the recycling center individually, the curbside pick-up consolidates the trips. Additionally, increasing the amount of material headed to the recycling center decreases the amount of trash conventional dump trucks pick up. This means the trucks can run longer routes before heading to the landfill.

Recycling in Alaska is surrounded by problems. Without a huge domestic market, much of the material is shipped out. Operations have shut down in the past when markets for recycled material collapse. Glass, one of the most easily repurposed materials, is still not accepted at most recycling centers.

However, the Mazuts are undaunted by these challenges. Working in the Valley actually makes it easier, Joe said, because the local recycling center only accepts separated materials. This means the center can ship out each recyclable to specific buyers. For their services, Joe said Ready Recycles donates about $1,000 a month to VCRS, and the new recycling center coming online later this year will only make the curbside pick-up service more efficient.

For more information, visit www.readyrecycles.com.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.