January 18, 2010
Statewide curbside?
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell is proposing that curbside recycling be extended to every home and business in the state, his office said last week.
The proposal shifts the burden of providing curbside recycling services from the state government to private waste haulers and city municipal systems.
On Jan. 5, the governor outlined a “universal recycling” proposal that he said would increase access to recycling without additional cost to consumers. He introduced the plan as a revision of the existing bottle bill.
“The plan I’m putting forward is comprehensive and practical, designed to dramatically increase recycling, reduce burdens on businesses, create jobs and restrain waste costs,” Markell said.
The governor has yet to introduce a bill to reform the bottle deposit law to the state legislature. Many recycling and waste management companies said they had little information about the proposal.
“We’re looking forward to reviewing and working with governor on the legislation,” said Lisa Kardell of Waste Management. “We support the governor’s desire to get the legislation passed.”
Susan Collins, executive director of the Container Recycling Institute, which advocates for bottle deposit laws, said the proposal may not reach the goals the governor has set. “My first thought is that it will reduce recycling rates for beverage containers,” she said. “Existing infrastructure in the state is weak. The state has recently added to its curbside recycling coverage, but they are still at 20% coverage.”
The proposal would require all private waste haulers and municipalities to provide curbside recycling service.
Waste collectors would be required to provide a dedicated recycling container and biweekly collection to each household and business.
Mandatory residential and commercial recycling is not part of the plan.
To help pay for the curbside service, the state’s current 5-cent bottle deposit would be phased out and replaced with a 2-cent-per-bottle fee or tax. The tax would be paid to the state, which would then redistribute the fee to haulers and municipalities to help with startup costs for the service.
Decreases in costs associated with landfilled waste would also help offset expenses for haulers and municipalities, the governor said. Landfill fees in Delaware are set to increase by 50% over the next several years.
“The modernized bottle bill will not only continue to fulfill its original purpose of keeping bottles out of the trash, but it will provide the means to increase recycling of all materials over the next several years,” Markell said. “Making recycling convenient and available to every household in the state is a goal that has long been sought, but the cost has always been prohibitive. However, we believe it is now achievable for no more than consumers will already be paying for trash service, by combining it with the change to the bottle bill.”
As part of the plan, the state solid waste authority would gradually eliminate the current $6 million to $10 million annual subsidies of curbside recycling. Private waste haulers and municipalities would face penalties for not meeting state-set recycling targets.
If approved, the state could start implementing the new plan later this year.
“This plan for universal recycling is a significant step forward for our state, solving the challenge of offering recycling at their home to everyone in the state, without any additional cost above what they will already be paying to throw out all their trash,” Markell said. “Now, our plan will be to work with all those I’ve mentioned to create the legislation needed, present it to the General Assembly and to bring universal recycling to Delaware.”
On its web site, the Delaware Solid Waste Authority said it supports Markell’s proposal as a way to increase recycling in the state. It noted the changes would allow the authority to save money by ending its own curbside recycling program and would allow it to eliminate its drop-off recycling centers.
http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/arcshow.html?id=10011800102
