County Trashes Recycling Pilot Program From Its Budget

Pasco County Commissioners chose Thursday to cut out of next year's budget a $250,000 pilot project that would test ways to expand recycling and trash collection in the county. Instead, commissioners plan to take a field trip.

Pasco County Commissioners decided at a budget workshop to abandon this year the Municipal Solid Waste Capture and Reduction Pilot Project, which would have implemented universal trash pickup and mandatory expanded recycling in a community.

They are instead visiting Lee County’s solid waste recycling operations in Fort Myers to learn about the county's programs.

A recent waste composition study showed that the county has enough waste to justify enhancing its recycling, composting and household waste management programs, as well as a proposed bio-solid composting facility.

Pasco County does not require residents to participate in trash pickup or recycling. Residents sign up with one of nine independent haulers to collect their garbage. It has an optional . The program collects aluminum cans, metal cans, #1 and #2 plastic and clear, green and brown glass bottles and jars.

The proposed pilot study would have focused on one neighborhood of 8,000-12,000 single-family units. The county would negotiate a contract with a one- to three-year hauler to conduct universal trash pickup. It would expand the county recycling program to include paper and fiber in the community.

The pilot study’s goals were to increase recycling participation and tonnage and household hazardous waste recovery. It also would have sought to determine the amount of biowaste to support a composting program dealing with sludge from the county utilities wastewater treatment operations. In addition, it would ensure the supply of solid waste meets the minimum requirement of the county-operated waste-to-energy plant.

The pilot would have cost the county $100,000 in professional services and $150,000 in other contracted services.

Pasco County is projected to face a deficit that could reach $5.6 million this coming year and has been looking for places to shave from the county budget. Commissioners decided at Thursday’s budget workshop to ask department heads to cut their budgets by 4.5 percent.

Ted Schrader, co-chairman of the commission, had reservations about the pilot program. “Why are we spending all this money just to get information?” he asked.

It’s “fairly simple” to implement recycling in residential neighborhoods, Schrader said in an interview. In rural areas, such as those in district 1 or district 2 of Pasco County, a curbside recycling problem could mean a long and expensive drive for haulers.

“Why can’t we have dropoff points for recycling in rural areas?” he said. 

Jennifer Seney, Pasco’s recycling chief, said the county commission had wanted to try out the pilot program to prove that the changes could would work in Pasco. Data about what other counties have done to improve their recycling efforts is out there and would be less expensive than the pilot program, she said.  That’s her recommendation, but she’ll do what the commissioners want.

“I would never want to reinvent the wheel,” she said. “I would rather do a literature study.”

Lee County was named the state's top county for recycling success in 2008, according to the county's website. The site says it has reported "from 35% to 42% of documented recycling activities for more than 12 years." The county has a franchised trash collection system, source reduction and recycling collection program, household and chemical waste disposal and processing program, yard waste recycling program and an award-winning waste-to-energy plant.

Ann Hildebrand, chairwoman of the Pasco County Commission, said the planned trip to Lee County means that Pasco was taking a step forward with addressing its recycling and trash collection programs. A lack of a franchised trash pick up program has been holding Pasco back, she said.

“We’ve talked about it,” she said. “We’ve danced around it for some time. …I look (at the trip) as positive because now we’re getting off the dime.”