Delaware Contemplates Ways to Boost Recycling

The state of Delaware, which has been struggling with ways to increase its recyclables recovery level, has completed a preliminary report that it hopes will give it the impetus to develop a comprehensive recycling program.

The draft report, released late last week, will be discussed and edited by the state’s Recycling Public Advisory Council. The report, begun early this year, was developed in concert by the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, the DRPAC, and the state’s Solid Waste Authority.

The hope is that the Advisory Council will be able to get a completed report ready for public comments and workshops by this fall, according to Pat Canzano, the COO for the state’s waste authority.

Unlike many states in the Northeast, Delaware relies on a voluntary collection program for its recyclables. The state has around 145 drop-off centers scattered throughout the state.

According to several sources, the cost to develop the program would be around $30 million per year. This would cover the approximately 300,000 households in the state.

While the $30 million price tag has been bandied about, that number has a fair number of variables. Canzano says that if the state goes toward a single-stream collection program the cost could decline.