To have, and to have not. Northeast recyclers suddenly face both situations - at the same time.
They've gained curbside pickup of junk mail, starting today north of Cottman Avenue.
But they've also lost the city trucks where they could drop off plastic bottles on Saturdays. And on that point, some Northeasters are hopping mad.
"I don't think it's right," said Susan Hurwitz. "I've been diligent and I've been taking it. And now I'm putting it out in the trash."
"I'm really mad at this," Kevin Kenna, also of the Northeast, told the Daily News Recycling Hot Line. "What are we supposed to do, throw it out in the trash?"
Pssssst! Community groups in the Northeast, you have just seen a door opening. Here's a chance to earn a few bucks for neighborhood improvement programs.
The people who called to protest the lost plastics dropoffs pointed out that other areas of the city have such setups.
"My question," said one woman, "is, how come?"
The answer is that people - mostly civic and environmental groups - in those other areas are staffing Saturday plastics collections and earning a chunk of the profits from the material's sale.
"We're really looking for people to start a partnership up there for the plastics," said city recycling chief Alfred Dezzi.
Groups from Germantown to South Philly to Center City are making money on plastic - and on mixed paper, which they're collecting at the same time under this city "partnership" program.
And five people from the Northeast have inquired so far about starting a similar dropoff. To get into the game, non-profit groups can call 1-800-80- RECYCLE (1-800-807-3292) for more info.
Meanwhile, if you live north of Cottman Avenue, you can put out junk mail, catalogs, phone books and other clean household paper, along with newspapers, next recycling day.
Dezzi said nobody's sure how much of this "mixed paper" lurks in that area's 78,000 households. He figures city trucks will pick up as little as nine tons a day - or as much as 30. The collections are expected to reduce the $80-a-ton cost of recycling (already well below the $125 a ton to pick up and dispose of trash).
If it all works, the idea is to expand curbside mixed paper recycling citywide sometime next year.
SCRAPS. Harboring nasty stuff around the house like old pesticides, batteries, cleansers and motor oil? The city's next household hazardous-waste collection will be Oct. 28 in West Philadelphia. City residents - no businesses, please - can take this stuff to the First District Highway Garage, 48th Street and Parkside Avenue, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For more info on what to bring: 215-686-5560 . . . The Recycling Bin wants to hear your ideas about recycling. Call us at 215-854-5999 or send us e-mail at recybin(at)aol.com.
