Delaware Agency Reveals Recycling Blueprint

The Delaware Solid Waste Authority released its blueprint for a mandatory, statewide recycling law Tuesday, June 15, drawing criticism from supporters of a broader recycling bill due for Senate action as early as today.

Draft legislation developed by the authority would mandate curbside collection of household recyclables throughout Delaware, financed by billing county governments.

"Having the funding passed on to the counties would seem to me to be an effort to drive some legislators away," said Sen. David B. McBride, D-Hawks Nest. He said the authority already has the ability to finance a curbside recycling program without shifting the expense to county or local governments.

McBride said he hopes for a Senate vote today on S.B. 245, the bill he introduced that would mandate recycling and set minimum rates for diverting waste from landfills. S.B. 245 would require the state to recycle at least 30 percent of residential household wastes by July 1, 2007, but does not specify a financing method.

Carrcroft resident John Grabowski said he would consider a small increase in property-owner costs to support recycling.

"If it's going to help the planet, I guess I could live with it," Grabowski said.

Public hearings are planned for September on the authority's proposal, under a joint agreement of the authority, the Recycling Public Advisory Council and the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Formal General Assembly action is unlikely before next year, officials said.

"We're saying: If you want to do it the right way, this is the way to do it," said F. Michael Parkowski, who, while serving as a state attorney, drafted the legislation creating the authority in the 1970s. Parkowski, now in private practice, serves as the authority's legal counsel.

Under the authority's proposal, residents would have to divert at least three recyclable wastes from their trash, including lawn clippings or other yard wastes. Those who do not could face warnings or fines. Municipal governments, contractors or the authority would serve as exclusive recycling collectors within existing or newly created waste districts across the state. Overall recycling targets would match those in McBride's bill.

"I think the waste authority putting this forward is almost a stalling tactic, trying to blunt the criticism that has been coming their way," said Lyman C. Welch, chief counsel to the Mid-Atlantic Environmental Law Center at Widener University.

Authority chief executive N.C. Vasuki said costs for the statewide service probably would fall below $6 per household per month, based on early findings from an existing authority service that offers curbside pickups for a monthly charge.

"It will take a few years to develop a significant participation rate, but it can be done," Vasuki said.

The plan was proposed after criticism mounted over the authority's past recycling efforts and landfill management policies, particularly in northern New Castle County. Concerns about the state's chronically low recycling rate helped to sidetrack an authority proposal to expand the Cherry Island Landfill in northeast Wilmington.

Authority managers have rejected proposals to pay for the recycling from landfill disposal-fee revenues, saying higher landfill rates would prompt haulers to use lower-cost landfills in other states, jeopardizing both recycling efforts and long-term landfill operations. Under a pass-through plan, counties could include the cost in existing fees or assessments charged to property owners, officials said.

Deborah Heaton, conservation manager for the Sierra Club Delaware Chapter, said state officials should re-examine all waste management policies, including the open-market collection system used in suburban New Castle County and in Sussex County.

Critics have said the system - which requires residents to contract for services individually - as inefficient and expensive.

"Why are they looking at one small facet, when a lot of people would like them to look at the entire waste structure?" Heaton said. - the (Delaware) News Journal