Connecting the Community; 3012; Recycling

this original presentation possible by viewers like you thank you northwest florida seems to get more serious about recycling every year tonight we're talking about the latest efforts to broaden the recycling programs with leaders in the field jim reese is okaloosa county's recycling coordinator and serves on the board of a statewide recycling program rivera says superintendent broke loose is county's environmental department including management of the household hazardous waste facility natalie bowers is here from the emerald coast utilities authority which recently expanded its successful

household recycling program to include hazardous materials good evening welcome to all of you thank you very much for coming in one the recycling issue that probably stop a people's minds all right now is are you recycling any of the area while it's in the gulf of mexico were you doing when any role in that actually when the incident that began offer our assistance just any county into our local incident command folks and let them know we were here to help us as soon as they needed us out we've played a very minor role up until now scientists recently we made available some thirty five gallon containers for the beaches pensacola hand of perdido to serve as containers for any oil tar balls or any of those such palm oil laden

materials that people might be picking up so honestly they're rigorous what santa rosa county doing the center of gary sent a landfill we did like a vital to baby in through the command center and through operations there are martyrs in a prisoner but the the callers that got the contract have their own landfill so they chose not to use our central landfill and end so our part of ford's landfill element barium or edgy resellers a guy playing a role a protest the same as the other the other two out the spin ensure public safety safety officer rommel management and we've taken a role just as corn a staging areas but our primary our waste management isn't a contract with bp than ever staging area at the transfer station in south of those account it just tuning in this is connecting to community and lloyd patterson's and i were talking about the recycling efforts and how they're growing in northwest florida in recent years in fact

the whole coast utilities authority just recently expanded it's household recycling pickup program now labours to include you will now pick up on some of the hazardous waste then we have a list of what that might include we're talking about household hazardous waste i read were probably each household may have about a hundred pounds or so a household waste the waste and the hazardous they conclude paints cleaners all ills batteries pesticides would be at the top of the list and how are you helping people well our first pick up for this type of material is going to be on july tenth pickups are going to be on the sadder day the first saturday of every month and when our customers need to do is call a customer service her center and armed request the pickup and this will include material such as alm cool chemicals fertilizers paints and solvents

batteries or motor royals and says those kinds of materials that you wouldn't necessarily throw away or certainly not poured down the drain so you're making a really easy for people to get rid of this stuff they don't have to have their interrupted to get to work to a recycling center now in santa rosa county are you helping get rid of the sort of hazardous household waste well we have opened as of january we opened our household hazardous waste to slowly at the simple landfill we have my does a viable six days away from seven i am to five pm there's no charge to drop off that material is it hadn't really grown we're up to your probably average around fifty customers in her back so it you know we move quantum it all on an upright and other chemicals and analyst gary wows or going with a hazardous well full time vassily himself in the vote was counted us open on thursday afternoons for local residents again there's no charge

on every third saturday of the month it's open to local residents and indeed nor that was counted as you hear is at our satellite facility there's open five days a week from seven to three thirty folks can call me which we do about what a select call and i make an appointment can his organs spice out the work of the three major candidates represented here on our program and says well should be since we cover northwest florida but you guys are no clues and santa rosa county make it harder for people don't you have you know you're not going to come they can call up ricker gm and say come by the house and pick up my while they can't leave and then they get cut participation what you did when you can don't offer that cancer as well learn why we looked at law it is that we're so much farther ahead of where we were we were having you know through general sustenance and threw at

the ap bryant we had enlisted a house will only the perils amnesty day one diaper year now we're open six days away any hour that the landfill that we have someone at the house will average wife sold it in conveying it for the far south when it's inconvenient somewhat full of northland but has been very well accepted of maine and we would have a lot of compliments about animal are people fleeing you know really the legend of anaheim and they plays in and somewhat surprising number of people that that will drive cross bridge to come you know to to get rid of their household poisons assad's planes all the people are participating it's a very modern is growing in and you know yes we would like to get a facility in the south and we are working toward that you know the end and at some point an idea sold in north america that enhance program

but but you know we don't feel like we might get better when it easier by have in the program that we have now we we are far ahead of what we were last year's not alone in the lamb sale and am i guess not born in people's yards around offenses in and buy what they are so you know work where they pleased with the program then and just i really feel like it's going to continue to grow a good your household waste it if you're a moral codes usually customer they give them a call and then i'll pick it up and put a right by your doorstep you know put out why the street that people have cancer like this all over the house and then their garages in their sheds stuff that they don't really know what to do with and it's not it's not a good thing to stick out your regular your regular trash and jerry's when you feel like you'd get it would make sense that the police here you make it to participate in some then the way evel goes does without curbside pickup of the house or pick up that you get much better participation then you wouldn't

okaloosa where people have to go to someone yeah so about there were constrained by the the funding that's available our program has is fully funded through a tan cooperative arrangement grass that we have with the ten counties across and how we provide the same service on an annual basis to audit from every county from santa rosa too well sarah's as a program but we're still working with them of funding an mc a day events of from sanders all the way to us gaston county minus gulf we sources counties on an annual basis withdraw funding from that that funding is one that any inmate in as much as trying to provide a service as an as they are dc you're a bum we love to do that than it is our program our funding grows we would move in that direction they control their destiny in as much as they are collection agency hours is based on contract with a private holler so we can't just the institute's

something it has to be done at the end of the contract or more than any of a new contract to put into planning programs will have that was treated just adapt or just weren't that way so is it really are scenes come out of money for what program you're talking about whatever it is it in the availability of equipment and manpower and that for now what is it that you get there people fear of which are concerned hazardous waste is not disposed of properly will be what's the scenario that you really get a really worry about well there are very many different aspects that we wanna guard against and we certainly dont want flammable zen and those kinds of products to end up in the er in the trash in the garbage they'll fire trucks can catch on fire we also don't want those kinds of projects to be dumped on the ground you know

we know they'll eventually end up in our drinking water on our aquifer is extremely fragile so we want to make sure that we keep our drinking water safe from contamination oh we don't want these items to have to go into the sewer our wastewater treatment plants don't need to be treating us the novel treatment plant well we don't need to be taking out materials and an contaminants in substances out of art are on treatment plants that don't need to be treated for what were you up concerns you most about this hazardous waste if it's not disclosed a properly applied the images echo what natalie say it in and you know we we hopefully to gay people from poland out a runner france's the whole lot some of us always did it to control large we hope that that mindset has gone by mike in those household waste facility a viable the chemicals not been stored around the house i know i've

been involved and jim before that in the amnesty day since nineteen ninety five and you know the start up where we felt like you know a couple years ever want to have their grudges and in one week have two hundred two hundred fifty vehicles at two different sites part i and this flashy or will we had over five hundred people and saudi and volunteer vehicles cover the drop of materials the internet and the cia so you know peopled by baselines and in and you just a little bit of a bluish you know we don't it's that they're just like you know she said it's it's it's obama has or it's a poisoning has or an answer it could get an actual fire he put it and you know if you have a septic system of your own is going to be in the water system if you put in the store this treatment plants are not really geared for all that material year site they claim it pretty good but that's not you know exactly what they're here for right and also we we

may take a bit and dispose of an enviable ascended to someone they can dispose of it properly or we use you know is that what happens to most of this the household products their turnovers you guys are you are you are where they put in whether be able to be re used well we don't have a reuse center there are counties instead of horton that do have that i'll call swap shop we've we've loved we were framed from that this again because while building but i mean that is an option and there is a lot of stuff that does come in i can be read reviews and then but there's a lot of stuff that you that comes analysts and it remains an unopened condition there's no guarantee that it is white they say it is for that that they have not make something else in it so majority of what we're collecting is set after a license or for disposal or treatment some such as that

we are we have some innovative private school with like explain or were capturing like text paint seeking to create a niche market for that in a rating system with a company in south carolina that's that's an ongoing thing and it's nothing that has fully developed where it could open the door for other programs to channel their their late in their way split explain in that direction right it's just at today thanks for joining a somewhat patterson we're here with the people from various agencies around northwest florida who deal with recycling and picking up far off our waste our household waste good greek americans reproduce a lot of that i think we have something show year that the us produces about a sixty hundred pounds per person that's a deeper person and now the united states said and the us recycles about twenty eight percent of the total amount of goods that come into the houses at some about right to

you that we're up to about twenty percent that's pretty good of america from maybe ten years ago what would you think you would've been there probably in the world like in brooklyn right now by the hour full screen they're also mentioned the last in a plastics long time that it's not a big concern these get one thing is really interesting is going on santa rosa county they're using the people he tells that you guys have a glass question facility polarizer for also india and it's as we were able to get a grant for the impact one hundred program theorems game began a n to back this paul reiser to be able to break up the glass and he'd say they're addicted so they literally pre wrapped and it looks really nice in yards we've with donna a project at our administrative complex and now oh louis

plaza a can be sorted by color some of the blues you know people really liked that the blue or the river killer grains or you know some rap but it does a real good job and landscaping and we hope to do to keep this class a landfill the market for wyeth you know why hasn't buy from sly and that's a pretty inexpensive resource that the glass not affected by it and neck and also you know airline when a plastic in and malcolm timers do is cut down somewhat last but that is hard to get rid of it any other way in for several montz we did not recycled glass and through this program you know we there were a hundred thousand pounds of blast last month in our first mobile be a bible bitch derivative get rid of it and that's an island are glad to say that the mid sized landfills buys about landfills buys were repelled but you know spy for garbage in lines and has to go and we we have one picture shows how this is uses as a yard

decoration are for landscaping administrative building in santa rosa county and it really looks nice i can see where there'd be a good market for this crush glasses not sharp is going to get out you can i think they give it some of the brochures that drove the polarizing companies and those shows children and our third world around her playground are flowing and you can pick a double handful of this road that you can walk on a bare footed in ages or not all though that it's it's almost around it that the big rubble pardon it makes a real nice i am a finance i n you can change that the great senator to get to defer part material with different sizes and and so you know that scientists find fine is not there there's no sharply and as a math natalie engine can stop by your place and dig up but all they wanted this glass that way it works well not quite yet there we are our through the program where unless it's not clear that

we have been like in a viable for the community free of charge we've asked the residents of center of the candidate take a bit of two five gallon bucket maximum and him we have like slayer hundred and three thousand pounds hear that that has moved very quickly get some until now we do have some of by will not a viable an r and r playing communities as the maltese which is on park avenue and milk and how we try to keep what gotten slammed iran some of the gravel and mike's really nice landscape and material does a great job as a virus going to stay in place and i am as you can save on that they can they're itself as pretty free and landscaping of recycled materials how can you top that natalie angier i think it's a great opportunity and if i were rather than a fan or

as a county i'd be there anything like that in the works for either of applause either your counties will not glass but in terms of a landscaping material we we manage dr yard waste proper action although your voices collected in augusta county has brought to our facilities one in the north county oneself county and we grind that material into it i have molds size material however due to the plastic bags that sit in the end that makes gives it's really not a product that you would want a common plan you're i mean you're a flower beer a thing because of the plastic however we do have an innovative grant we've been working on in the last two years to remove the plastic will it lead to a beneficial market analysis and that's ongoing actually will only just received an extension to move from the end of june to the end of september weren't we will evaluate the aisle in the markets are there for the mature and he ended the year as la potential we remove the

plastic we screen it how to come up with a tough tough ugly primary focusing on the fines enter their product of that process and make that we will make them available to out to local residents as in any of the recycling of the papers the plastics the glass is there any i'm going to become economically viable you think that they're going to pay for themselves at least it's kind of a balancing act i think some items are in demand at certain times and and it's kind of an and always fluctuating flowing kind of dynamic glasses as mentioned previously by rank it and there's not much of a market for glass that you know where his paper can be in demand at certain times it goes up and down so i think it's sort of evens out there's there's a balance and we tried it go for eid and

goal is to try and make the recycling program at least pay for itself so that we can offer the service and a healthy environment and of course you know do the right thing all around and rigor you making anything from the region at the recycling efforts know is it in my fears that is not paid for itself if you factor in the fact that you're slaving airspace you're creating more room in the landfill you are citing spain's you're keeping the carol out a landfill there been reusing recycling you factor in that now yes it by four and an anomaly said it's the environmental rifling mr lee if the right thing today is to recycle an end and if people do not recycled if they'll just that you know we're applying used to do with with kyrgyzstan is is get you a bag of your garbage that you use it to three or four days and did you two bags of put what is garbage and put what

you can recycle and i like to be pleasantly surprised that that probably about sixty percent of his gun the recyclable materials about forty prisoners gone the garbage in some way and that so you know a lot of the care of the committee about landfill that with that you know we all put in land i think that customers are emerald utilities have found that for themselves since you've instituted this program are now more than a year ago where you have the two pans one for for recyclables people are probably putting less stuff in their garbage been largely happily yes it's been a very successful program in it continues to be so we're very excited about it some of the calls that we get customers are telling us that they are so surprised that the bomb the recyclables are growing every week that they are putting more and more in their recycling container and they're surprised that that you know they were afraid they wouldn't have enough in their garbage pickup once a week to satisfy

their households needs were thrilled that will be able to include glass and our recycling i'm beginning in august beginning in august people will be able to put a glass bottles in the regular recycling cans yes ok so that's so that's another step here for sky little by little your program is growing and growing each of these sees improvement from year year always so really you look at a long way to go there we have the things some things that they actually work against the recycling and that's our first and so in our county and others around the state it's it's difficult to encourage people to recycle when they have such an opportunity for away presses we have two garbage collections a week as part of the service to go to collections one yard waste water recycling one bolt waste pickup and they in the residential service and the big garbage containers and nine six

gallon so you're picking up one hundred and ninety two gallons of garbage are giving them a hundred ninety gallons of capacity and eight ad for a garbage and eighteen gallons capacity for recyclables so you know we've got to shift that and we're looking at that currently mr kelly is how we can incentivize recycling provide more of an opportunity for people that want to recycle without a single string risk to recycle which has expanded the thick of the amount of commodities that can be but at the current referring look ahead what you see coming for santa rosa county won't lay i recycle program as is almost exclusively drops an ersatz the word we have twenty eight locations throughout the candidate that we have anywhere from one to five container there for people to drop all their gear we do not have any it that time a very few curbside programs are some imbecile than that that they call for

themselves in as nelly pointed out they use you no one wants for weight garbage pickup and water weight recycled they go out hopefully that's going to get joan in an enterprise area as well they're doing some of that on several the cat ate you know economic controls only find is there are these not been visible i guess in cerro the candidate to find jobs our county and be able to crawl what the hall were able to do in and contract with women and say hey you know we're going to put part of his contract his gumby your metaphor of curbside recycling and i can citi had the braces has really done well with an early years like that a good program but they charge a lot more for their celebration collection where you know the road the rosa county has not been where we could control it and it's you know they're you got four or five of our people and in subdivisions turn away cannot and but like at that when they're around the country

what models do you look at who is really doing a bang up job with the recycling program as you look around other states and municipalities now is there any examples that everybody said wow i wish we could be more like so and so town i like to think that we're pretty proud of the job we're doing that i do know that we've looked at many different communities throughout the country and one that stood out was cherry hill new jersey where they have actually reward program for their recycling effort and that's something that we've looked out and were evaluating while more wealthy rewards as in that three in the sky like a frequent flyer program for recycling it's very involved and so that's something that and we're looking out and just seeing if it would be applicable to our community and our climate and the temperatures that we deal with

nellie bowers from admiral coast utilities authority thank you very much for being here with carrots santa rosa county engine greece from okaloosa county appreciate your being here we have so much addresses that you will definitely want to check out very easy to find easy way down or their green okaloosa recycle santa rosa santa rosa clean and of course tps like to recycle information to watch of the program this evening on wood patterson for the us ari pbs for the golf gods those

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