The three R's are drilled into children's heads from day one at school. With growing populations meaning more trash at neighborhood landfills, local governments and solid waste authorities are working toward reducing the never-ending stream of waste.

While municipalities in the Estancia Valley and East Mountains are looking at starting recycling programs, some in rural Torrance County have been working for the past 10 years to get as much recycled as possible.

Two who are passionate about recycling are Joseph Ellis, manager of the Estancia Valley Solid Waste Authority (EVSWA), and Adrianne Luetjens, operations supervisor and risk management director.

The authority's efforts have been paying off. Ellis estimated 75 tons of municipal trash comes into the Moriarty station per day. Staff separates as much metal as possible, and about 700 tons of metal and 200 tons of tires are recycled every year.

The inception of recycling greenwaste, e-waste and cardboard have been a long time in the making, the Ellis and Luetjens, who are both active with the New Mexico Recycling Coalition, won't stop fighting for recycling in the Estancia Valley.

"We're taking baby steps," Luetjens said. "Ten years ago we had nothing in terms of recycling. We used to have to transfer all the materials to the West Side of Albuquerque ourselves. Now we accept all these new things. We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go."

A need to be green

There are now 30,000 tons of municipal solid waste received for disposal at the Estancia Valley Regional Landfill annually, according to Ellis, which is double the amount since the last waste characterization report filed in December 1991 for the Tri-County Regional Solid Waste Task Force which included the East Mountain and Moriarty areas.

About 90 percent is residential waste, according to the report. The majority of waste that comes in is paper, with plastics and food waste coming in second and third.

The question Ellis and Luetjens are trying to tackle is how to get as much material recycled possible on a limited budget.

The major obstacles to getting a rural recycling program started in the Estancia Valley is a mixture of location and funding. With no recycling centers in rural Torrance County, virtually all recyclable materials have to be sent away to a center in Albuquerque, directly to market, or to a center such as Slate Rubber and Environmental Solutions in Texas, where the valley's scrap tires are sent to be recycled.

The reason why it has taken so long to even get this far in rural Torrance County recycling is because of the enormous costs to not only starting a program, but maintain it, Ellis and Luetjens said.

Ellis and the solid waste authority staff have been to Santa Fe to lobby for funding and legislation, but with the state government in such financial trouble, it forced the authority to get creative, Ellis said.

"The legislature is in such dire straits so we have to think of ways to resolve those issues ourselves," Luetjens said. "A lot of people complain about not doing recycling, but don't realize how much it costs and difficulties in rural areas you don't have in larger cities."

Taking steps

The solid waste authority does currently recycle as much as possible, according to Ellis and Luetjens.

Recent additions to items that are recycled include electronic waste and greenwaste for composting.

The authority just started taking electronic waste, or e-waste, Ellis said. At any of the nine neighborhood collection stations, residents may now drop off computers, printers, scanners and other electronic items, with the exception of televisions.

Residents may also recycle scrap tires, white appliances and other metal items, aluminum cans, auto batteries and greenwaste. All of the recycling is free for residential customers, with the exception of tires and refrigerators, Ellis said.

Within the next few weeks greenwaste will be used to compost the carcasses of large animals brought for disposal, Ellis said.

Luetjens is also now working to start a collection of cardboard to be recycled. The market for cardboard was going down, but it's now coming back up, Ellis said.

Community help

A recycle-minded person can turn a profit from the waste taken to the landfill. The solid waste authority is working with the county road department to demolish abandoned mobile homes and sell the property. Ellis said he thinks a resourceful person could source separate the building materials to resell and turn a profit.

"It occurred to me this might be a great opportunity," Ellis said.

Another example of creative recycling programs is the crushing aluminum cans, and hauling to Albuquerque for a profit.

Youth groups can come to the landfill and crush cans, then haul them to Albuquerque with a trailer donated to the solid waste authority. Ellis said groups can make up to $500 in one trip. Ellis is currently looking for youth groups to come in and help out, not just Torrance but other counties in the area.

Groups interested may contact Ellis at 384-4270.

More info

Find where Estancia Valley Solid Waste Authority collection stations can be found A2