Watauga strives
to meet state recycling goal DENR urges local governments to recycle
2 million tons annually
By Scott Nicholson
Watauga County will beef up its recycling efforts to head
toward a state goal of 2 million tons of recycled materials annually
by 2012.
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has urged
counties and local governments to boost recycling programs under
the “2 Million Tons by 2012” campaign, setting standards
for each of the 100 counties.
Watauga would need to boost its recycling totals by 4,773 tons
a year, which would require each person nearly doubling the amount
they currently recycle. The average Watauga resident recycles
232 pounds a year, and to meet the state goal each person would
need to recycle 452 pounds a year.
Watauga County recycling coordinator Lisa Doty acknowledged the
state had set a high bar, but the county has made leaps in the
last year by expanding the types of materials it collects. Doty
said it’s unclear what types of materials will count toward
the goal, though the county has begun collecting batteries and
electronic equipment under a program begun this summer.
The annual rate of recycling reported for the 2006-07 fiscal year
rose to a new record of 1.35 million tons in North Carolina. To
reach 2 million tons of annual recovery by 2012, local government
recycling programs would need to increase their performance by
48 percent, which represents about a 10 percent improvement per
year.
“We’re going to promote more public participation in
the program, getting more businesses in it, and taking on more
types of materials,” Doty said. “Recycling electronics
waste is going to make a big impact, as well.”
The county has already carried two tractor-trailer loads of electronics
since it began collecting full-time in August. Doty isn’t
clear on what types of materials the state will be tracking, since
some material, such as yard waste, is more likely to be composted
in rural areas instead of going to the transfer station.
Watauga County’s total recycling of plastic has risen in
the past year, the result of the creation of a recycling coordinator
position, more education and a broader system of collecting different
types of materials. In the past year, the amount of recovered
plastic rose from 35 tons to 112 tons, cardboard from 728 to 825
tons and newsprint from 542 to 669 tons.
Doty said it would be difficult to nearly double the recycling
stream in the next four years, especially since the market for
recycling materials has declined along with the rest of the economy.
Recycling is still a voluntary endeavor, and though it can theoretically
lessen the waste stream and save on landfill costs and sanitation
taxes, there’s little quick and direct financial advantage
to inspire more people to participate.
“Right now there’s not a whole lot of incentive besides
doing the right thing for the environment,” Doty said. “There’s
not a whole lot of financial incentive. It’s more of wanting
to do what’s right for our community.”
However, the county has made it easier to participate by adding
extra bins at the waste-container sites, as well as accepting
more types of material at the transfer station.
“People taking their trash to the convenience center are
already there, so they’re not adding any transportation costs
to recycle,” Doty said.
She hopes to organize a more comprehensive and cohesive recycling
program for the local school system. Some schools have recycling
programs, sometimes administered by students, but Doty would like
to coordinate a system-wide recycling program, adding routes with
the current sanitation staff’s involvement.
DENR will measure achievement of the goal through the annual reports
submitted by local governments. These results are in turn reported
in the state’s Solid Waste Management Annual Report, released
to the General Assembly in January of each year.
“We strongly believe that not only can local government recycling
programs increase their numbers, but that there are real environmental
and economic benefits for communities and for the state in reaching
‘2 Million Tons by 2012,’” said DENR secretary
Bill Ross in a press release. “With stable recycling markets,
a strong state recycling economy and plenty of communities already
improving their programs, this goal is highly achievable.”
DENR acknowledged that while recycling markets are expanding as
new uses are found for materials, transportation and disposal
costs continue to rise, adding new challenges in meeting recycling
goals.
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