Editorial

Markell proposes simple way to achieve curbside recycling

Gov. Markell's new statewide curbside recycling proposal is a well-crafted response to naysayers who insist it can't be done.

The plan for "every home and business in Delaware without putting an additional cost to consumers" turns on the much-needed overhaul of the state's bottle bill. The governor wants to replace the 5-cent bottle deposit with a fee -- eventually reduced to 2 cents -- to fund recycling programs that would be universally available statewide.

Beer and soda industry lobbyists de-toothed the current bottle bill when they got soda and beer cans excluded. Local beer and soda retailers got to the point where they wouldn't rebate the deposit if products didn't come off their shelves. Some stopped issuing rebates entirely. The result was can and bottles littering roads and private farmland.

Now private waste haulers and municipalities would have to provide curbside recycling service, including a dedicated recycling container and collection at least once every other week.

Households and businesses would not be mandated to recycle, but they would have a recycling container and pickup provided to them. Mandatory enforcement would be wasteful to pursue, given the progress of voluntary efforts within the state.

Wilmington's diversion rate from the overcrowded Cherry Island landfill has reached 31 percent. Two months ago Delaware's Recycling Public Advisory Council reported state recycling rates have reached 30 percent.

Unlike traditional waste disposal, recycling is not an easily adaptable human habit. The Markell administration wants to make it habit-forming and has fashioned a policy the General Assembly should sign off on.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100106/OPINION11/1060306/1004/OPINION/Markell+proposes+simple+way+to+achieve+curbside+recycling+