City residents will start using new, green totes and move to twice-a-month pickups as part of a new recycling initiative officially unveiled today.

Delivery of about 70,000 new totes — which will be able to track how much is being recycled in each container — begins Wednesday and will take about a month to complete citywide, Mayor Byron W. Brown said.

Under the new program, more types of items will be accepted — including nearly all types of plastics, pizza boxes and pots and pans.

Last January, the city released data showing recycling rates here at one-fifth of the national average.

Residents who have 65- or 95-gallon garbage totes will receive 64-gallon recycling totes. Those who have 35-gallon garbage totes will receive 35-gallon ones.

The new totes will contain a tag that transmits a radio frequency, which will allow it to be tracked in case of loss, as well as to document the weight of recyclables from each cart.

While the change in scheduled pickups isn't planned until March, city officials are encouraging residents to begin to use the twice-a-month schedule as soon as they receive their new totes.

Brown outlined the city's goals for the new program during an afternoon press conference at the city engineering garage on Seneca Street.

The goals of the program are to double the amount of material the city recycles every year while reducing the amount of material the city landfills.

Also, the city will earn more revenue if more is recycled, and those funds will help prevent increases in the garbage user fee, Brown said.

"This is a new opportunity for recycling in the City of Buffalo," he said.

Manpower and fuel expenses would drop under the new program, which cuts in half the number of pickups.

Residents of the North District will be the first to receive the new totes, which will come with information on what can be recycled.

The city has a four-year, lease-to-own plan for the carts with Cascade Engineering of Grand Rapids, Mich., at a cost of $600,000, said Public Works Commissioner Steven J. Stepniak.

The expected life span of the new recycling totes is greater than the 10- to 15-year useful lives of the old garbage totes, Stepniak said, because they generally handle less weight.

Being able to track the amount of recycled material will help ensure the city is getting reimbursed properly by Allied Waste Services, the vendor paid to provide collection, he said.

Under the existing program, the city spent approximately $1.9 million annually on recycling. Under the new initiative — which has been in the works more than a year and delayed several times — the city expects to save about $500,000 a year in the first four years, Stepniak said.

The savings will increase once the city owns the totes, he said.

Currently, about 8 percent of material placed at the curb in the city is recycled, and city officials hope to boost that to 16 percent.

Every increase of 1 percent in the recycling rate would save the city between $70,000 and $100,000, Stepniak said.

Residents with questions about the new program should look for information on the city website, on the government-access cable channel or dial the city's 311 non-emergency calling system.
abesecker@buffnews.com