GOING GREEN GEORGIA EXPERTS

Randy Hartmann
Environmental Management Division Director, Georgia DCA

Citizen demand for recycling collection will continue to grow and local programs need to adapt and ensure they provide the most cost-effective collection programs. What’s more, advances in recycling-separation technology and more flexible markets have put many local governments in a position to identify significant savings.p>

Under the Solid Wast Management Act, the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) is charged with annual monitoring and reporting how the state solid waste management plan is progressing, which is available for review at www.dca.state.ga.us.

Below are some of the trends DCA monitors:



• Amount of available permitted disposal capacity in the state.
• Number, type and ownership of solid waste facilities and collection programs.
• Per-capita disposal rate.
• Rate of out-of-state waste imports.
• Cost of solid waste management systems in the state.

Since the Act went into effect, the collection and management of solid waste have changed drastically. Today, Georgians expect to have not only trash-collection services, but services to collect and manage recyclables, yard waste, and special waste like paints, electronics and bulky items. In 10 years, we have seen an increase in the level and types of solid waste collection programs, but we have also seen the number of local governments owning and operating their own landfills decrease by more than 50 percent. With only 41 publicly owned facilities remaining in 2004, the public sector managed only one-third of the waste disposed in the state. The remaining two-thirds was disposed in 16 privately-owned-and-operated landfills in the state.

Over this time period, the amount of permitted landfill capacity grew dramatically, from less than 10 years of permitted space to more than 26 years in 2004, primarily in privately-owned facilities. This concentration of landfill capacity in just a few large regional landfills in the state has given rise to the number of solid waste transfer stations in operation and has dramatically increased the number of miles wastes is hauled throughout the state.

The per-capita disposal rate at municipal solid waste landfills for waste generated by Georgians has remained relatively constant since 1998. Unfortunately, much of this leveling-off is not the result of increased recycling rates; rather, it is a reflection of an increase in the number of construction and demolition landfills permitted in the state. In fact, the number of local governments reporting they provide or have recycling collection services available in their community has steadily declined since 1998.

Trend Reversing

In recent months, however, this trend appears to be reversing. Following advances and investments of the private sector and local governments in material recovery facilities (MRFs) to separate recyclables co-collected in a single stream – combined with a waste disposal characterization study and DCA grant program funded by the Solid Waste Trust Fund – many communities are re-examining their curbside recycling collection programs. They are becoming interested in collecting single stream recyclables.

The characterization study showed that Georgians annually throw away 2.6 million tons of commonly recycled materials that are needed by industries right here in Georgia. In fact, the estimated market value for these materials is $250 million. Many of the end user markets of recyclable materials have realized that they needed to be more flexible when accepting these materials from communities.

Historically the markets wanted their product collected separately from the other recyclables to maintain the highest degree of quality possible, making for a collection process that was labor intensive and costly for local governments. With the advances in separation technology and more tolerant markets, local governments are now in a position to re-examine their recycling collection programs and identify some significant savings.

Recycling and other alternative solid waste management programs still face an uphill battle in competing with the statewide average posted gate rate fee of $35.26 per ton. This highly competitive fee is keeping the land filling of waste in Georgia a very attractive solid waste management disposal option. In fact, since 1998 the privately-owned-and-operated landfills in Georgia have significantly increased the amount of waste they import for disposal from out-of-state waste generators. Out-of-state waste imports currently account for more than 10 percent of the waste disposed in the state whereas in 1998 it accounted for less than 2 percent of the waste disposed.

What Do These Trends Mean For Counties?

Citizen demand for recycling collection will continue to grow and local programs need to adapt and ensure they are providing the most cost-effective collection program possible. To support this effort, under the leadership of Governor Sonny Perdue, full funding of the Solid Waste Trust Fund will enable the state to partner with industry and local governments to increase recycling rates in Georgia.

The good news for local governments is that Georgia has some of the strongest markets in the nation for these materials.

More than one-third of all PETE plastic (plastic beverage containers) recycled in North America is recycled in Georgia. There are 15 paper mills in the state that use recycled fiber for their operations -- in fact nine of the 15 rely exclusively on recycled content materials to keep their plants operational. Strong markets for aluminum, steel and glass also exist in the state.

The second piece of good news on the recycling front is that users of these materials have recently begun to work together and work with the state to support the increased recovery of recyclables in Georgia.

Many of the mills have changed their practices to accept materials from single-stream recycling collection programs. The co-collection of all recyclables in one vehicle will drastically reduce the cost of collecting recyclables and encourage increased community participation in curbside recycling collection programs. This provides a unique opportunity for counties to maximize collection equipment and personnel if they provide these services or contract for the service. When bidding for these collection services, county officials need to be aware of the potential cost savings and ensure the savings are being passed on to the county. A citizen re-education effort will be needed as well.