Delaware Nearing Memorandum on Mandatory Curb Recycling

The state of Delaware’s Solid Waste Authority is nearing the completion of a program that calls for mandatory curbside recycling throughout the state.

The authority, along with the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Recycling Public Advisory Council, is expected to have a draft of the memorandum completed within the next two weeks.

According to the Delaware General Assembly, the state determined that the reduction of solid waste disposal and recovery of usable materials from solid waste are matters of extreme importance in minimizing the environmental impact of solid waste disposal through landfilling.

Further, the state has determined that it is in the best interests of the state to develop a comprehensive statewide program to handle recyclables.

The DSWA has implemented and operated a statewide voluntary recycling program for residential solid waste for 13 years with 145 current drop off locations, and as a result DSWA has gained valuable experience in handling and marketing recycled materials.

Further, the DSWA, as part of its statewide solid waste management plan, is authorized to develop a program of coordination and cooperation with public interest groups and municipalities to further statewide recycling and waste reduction.

Following on this, the Delaware Senate’s General Assembly had passed a resolution that proposed the creation of a Task Force to explore the establishment of a pilot mandatory curbside recycling programs, which Task Force was to include representatives of DSWA and DNREC.

The interested parties have agreed to the following: the parties shall collectively make an assessment of the statewide composition of residential solid waste based on available information and prepare a characterization and quantification of the residential solid waste composition which would be amenable to source separation and curbside collection; the parties shall collectively prepare a market study utilizing available commercial information pertinent to Delaware to determine the historical, short term and long term trends for the sale and utilization of curbside source separated materials; the parties collectively shall conduct a comprehensive review of mandatory curbside recycling programs adopted and operating throughout the United States for purposes of determining the most feasible and effective program models capable of being utilized on a statewide basis in the State of Delaware.