Agenda - Council - 11/25/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- 5 - Although abatement programs, such as recycling and recource'recovery, will never completely eliminate the need for landfills, the Region could sub- stantially abate the amount of waste that has to be landfilled in the future. According to Council estimateS, 12 to 15 percent of all solid waste generated in the Metropolitan Area by the year 2000 could be recycled. Most of these recyclable wastes would consist of paper (includ- ing corrugated cardboard) and residential yard waste (leaves and grass clippings) that could be composted on a small scale. The remainder of these recyclable items are expected to be made up of glass, ferrous materials and nonferrous metals, like aluminum. About 56 - 75 percent of the year-2000 total could be handled by high- technology resource recovery systsm~, like furnaces that incinerate wastes to produce heat energy. The remalnlng wastes--10-32 percent--would have to be put in landfills. As the numbers show, the lion's share of future wastes is expected to be handled by high-technology resource recovery systems, such as trash- ~burning furnaces and biological recovery plants. Typically, such systems use large-scale, expensive equipment; they need a large, reliable supply of trash, entail substantial financial risks, and require long planning lead times. Waste separation, on the other hand, involves fewer financial risks and less costl~ equ%pment. ~onsequently, the Metropolitan Area can expect to see communlty-w~de recycling programs sooner than the more elaborate, costly resource recovery systems. The report recommends several steps to foster recycling, including: - Formation of an intergovernmental committee to promote use of existing and new recycling centerS, in cooperation with private industry. - Management and training programs dealing with operation of recycling centers. - In-office paper conservation and recycling programs. - Increasing the percentage of recycled and recyclable materials used by government and private industry. - Separation and salvaging of materials at transfer stations and land- fills, when possible. - Model source separation ordinances for use by cities and counties. - Local planning for curb-side pickup of recyclable materials. Several other recycling possibilities need to be investigated further. These include: - Satellite recycling centers that would make it more convenient for people to drop off their glass, paper and scrap metal.