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Local recyclers plan no food scrap program Medford, Ashland disposal firms cite higher costs, rodent problems By DAVID PRESZLER Don't expect food scrap recycling to come to the Rogue Valley anytime soon. Rogue Disposal & Recycling Inc., which serves Medford and Central Point, and Ashland Sanitary & Recycling have no plans to launch a food scrap recycling service like the one Portland officials are considering. Don Cordell, Rogue Disposal's operations manager, says food-scrap recycling is a fine idea, but it would be costly and, for now, the company is focused on the yard waste pilot program it launched earlier this year. Rogue Disposal is working to reduce the amount of garbage that goes into area landfills, Cordell says. But it's trying to do it in a logical order -- taking on the biggest types of garbage that are easiest to reduce. He compares it to picking the ripest, lowest-hanging fruit on the tree before going after the upper branches. "Food waste is pretty high on the tree," he says. Yard waste makes up a much large percentage of what goes into the landfill, Cordell says. That's why Rogue Disposal launched a yearlong pilot program in east Medford this spring that is offering recycling of yard waste. If it's successful -- and Cordell says it has been thus far -- it will be offered throughout the company's service area. Dan Murphy, who oversees recycling for Ashland Sanitary, says his company is working with Rogue Disposal and could join the yard waste composting program. Murphy says three of Ashland Sanitary's customers do some food waste recycling. The company picks up the waste and takes it to local organic farms, where it is composted. But Ashland Sanitary doesn't have the facilities or funding to do food-waste recycling on a larger scale. Cordell says food-waste recycling requires a more restrictive permit and brings difficult logistical problems. "You would create all kinds of vector control issues," he says, noting that a pile of composting food waste would surely attract hordes of rodents. The logical way to compost food waste would be in an enclosed capsule, something he says would raise the costs. "There would be increased costs to customers for that service," he says, noting that his company's residential monthly fees of around $12 are much lower than the $20-plus fees charged in the Portland area. "We're not sure that's the direction where our communities want to go in," he says. The company meets regularly with an advisory board to discuss recycling and Cordell says the food-scrap issue has been discussed and will likely be explored further in the future. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA