Editorials - 01/03/02

Our thoughts on solid waste plans

As county and JCSWB officials ponder the best way to manage our solid waste between now and the ordinance's April 1 effective date, we hope they'll look to the original purpose of the SRCs - reducing the amount of material that goes into the landfill Jackson shares with Macon County.

The new ordinance mandates neither recycling nor pay-as-you-throw. Instead, it makes provisions for commercial solid waste to go to the SRCs under certain conditions, a practice that has never officially been allowed. We are left to wonder how this encourages the reduction of the total waste stream as mandated by state law.

In discussion Dec. 20, commissioners seemed more concerned with their contract with GDS, the company that manages the SRCs, and providing a way for businesses to use the centers (as long as GDS was willing to accept commercial waste). Where was talk of prolonging the life of the Macon County Landfill by minimizing the amount of waste dumped there? Where was discussion of this county's obligation to handle not only our own, but also Macon County's trash in little more than 15 years?

While the here and now is being addressed, this lack of attention to the future seems ill-advised. GDS's contract has always precluded businesses from using the SRCs. Maybe that was included as an effort to reduce costs rather than an attempt to reduce the waste stream. Either way, closing SRCs to commercial solid waste is the right way to go.

The town of Sylva provides inspiration here. Sylva leaders mandated recycling and said businesses had to pay for disposal of their own trash. Other towns were requiring commercial entities to deal with their own solid waste as part of the "cost of doing business," and Sylva would do the same, town board members decided. To soften the blow, and because recycling was mandated, town officials chose to contract with a private hauler to collect business recycling, a practice that will continue for at least three more years. Business owners complained and negotiated; in the end they complied with the town rules.

Sylva officials never shied away from the notion that they were mandating recycling both because it was the right thing to do and because their goal was to reduce the total waste stream. To make recycling more palatable to residents, who by and large are cooperating very well, town leaders found a hauler who would accept mixed recycling. City residents can place all sorts of recyclables - glass, plastic, aluminum and steel cans and even newspapers - in one blue plastic bag.

So here's what we hope to see when the SRC regulations are finalized.

First and foremost, county leaders should mandate recycling. That said, officials should look into making it more convenient for residents to recycle. Maybe types of plastic and colors of glass could go in the same bin as they do in Swain County. Maybe the SRC attendant could break down cardboard boxes for the SRC users. And surely someone can come up with a way to allow residents to dump their containers of plastic, glass and aluminum cans as opposed to the current system of feeding them in one by one.

Second, commissioners need to stick with the original intent of the SRCs and not allow commercial solid waste. However, there is no reason not to allow businesses to recycle at the centers, especially if recycling becomes mandatory in Jackson County. The only exception that might be justified would be properly documented and tagged residential waste delivered to the SRC by a commercial hauler.

Most people will comply with the laws their public officials enact. From septic tanks to seat belts, laws have accomplished what lesser forms of encouragement could not.

In this case, the county needs to follow the town's lead.

Back to Archive: 01/03/02.