Agenda - Council - 10/14/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- 25 - program costs while'receiving the benefits in terms of waste reduction. It is also important to keep in mind the net, long- term consumer savings derived from more efficient and less wasteful packaging systems and products. Waste Reduction Methods Requiring Establishment of Municipal or County Policies Two waste reduction techniques are more easily implemented at the county or municipal level: office paper reduction and extended tire warranties. Both of these programs involve only minimal planning with implementation through resolution. Each county or city procurement administrator would then restrict purchases to follow the adapted waste reduction guidelines and assist with employee education. Both programs have the potential for net savings, especially when implemented in conjunction with post-generation recycling programs (see "Waste Separation" in this section) A more controversial waste ~eduction strategy that could po- tentially be instituted by county or city governments is the waste charge.. With the enactment of the new 1980 Waste Manage- ment Act, cities or counties may place reasonable conditions on waste processing and disposal facilities. One such condi- tion could be a per ton waste charge to help defray any planning and management costs of monitoring the facility or any waste recovery program instituted at the local level. In addition to funding recovery, this would increase the genera- tor's incentive to reduce waste output. 2. WASTE SEPARATION Waste separation program costs will vary according to the system type (that is, recycling centers, source separation with curb-side pickup, picking or mechanical separation), materials handled, population densities andd quality ofprogram administration. Results from recycling centers, where data is available, indicate that a range of net savings from $10 per ton to a net cost'6f $10 per ton is possible (MPCA, unpub, data). These data assume that all the recycling centers analyzed were operated as a profit- making business. In other words, volunteer labor was calculated at.minimum-wage labor costs. When calculated without this assumption, considering only paid labor and not including volunteers, the program costs range from no net cost to $25 per ton savings from revenues. Curb-side source separation programs have a wider range of costs, from $10 per ton costs to $77 per ton savings (Boca Raton newspaper collection program). The Boca Raton program may not be representative because of its near ideal market conditions. (A high-capacity newsprint mill is located in Georgia.) Nonetheless, most curb-side programs do break even in terms of materials revenues and transportation and disposal cost savings, at least for meeting the program costs.