Gov. Jack Markell has taken note of gains in the state’s once abysmal recycling rate following passage of legislation in 2010.
This came as the state ended a four-cent recycling fee established to enhance the state’s recycling rate and the diversion of recyclables that would otherwise go into a landfill.
The sate is reporting a 42 percent recycling diversion rate in 2013,well above the national standard of 34.5 percent.
The diversion rate has almost doubled since 2006 when the Recycling Public Advisory Council (RPAC), Delaware Solid Waste Authority and DNREC started calculating the state’s recycling rates.
The Solid Waste Authority had often been a foe of recycling efforts that went beyond the bins it placed around the state over the years.
Markell signed into Delaware’s Universal Recycling Law in 2010. “I committed at the outset of my administration to making recycling a priority for Delaware,” Gov. Markell said, “and to do that, we needed to maximize recycling benefits and make it easier to recycle. We’ve established a system that provides universal services that are cost-effective and convenient, and that promotes jobs and economic growth. It makes environmental and economic sense for Delaware to recycle.”
The Universal Recycling Law entailed three major recycling components: the single-family residential, multi-family residential and commercial sectors.
Delaware’s growing success with recycling has hinged on finding common ground among many entities: public, private and non-profit. Among them and spearheading the effort were the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA), the private waste hauling community, local governments, retailers, environmentalists, recyclable materials processors and public supporters, all of whom contributed to passage of the Universal Recycling legislation.
“Prior to Universal recycling, Delaware was exporting local industry to our neighboring states,” said Brock “BJ” Vinton, a sustainable business consultant and chairman of the Recycling Public Advisory Council (RPAC). “Since the passage of the Universal Recycling Law, Delaware has seen a significant increase in our recycling rates and the establishment of two material recovery facilities representing over $10 million of new investment and new jobs. We are turning more and more of our waste into a resource and simultaneously driving valuable sustainable domestic industry as a result.”
“Universal Recycling has been a tremendous success. Delaware residents are truly embracing recycling,” said Michael Parkowski, chief of business and governmental services for DSWA. “Participation in DSWA recycling programs are at an all-time high, and we are seeing the results. Since 2006, there has been a reduction of over 500,000 total tons of material going into Delaware landfills and that is adding many additional years of landfill life.”
“In the last 18 months, working with the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, 90 new jobs have been created at the ReCommunity Recycling Center in Delaware,” said ReCommunity’s Robert Anderson. “These new jobs are the direct result of the Universal Recycling Law, which has driven 184,000 tons of recycled material to be processed for reuse. In other words, these materials are being turned into revenue for Delaware rather than in delivering these materials to landfills. Beyond economic and social benefits of revenue and jobs, the recyclables processed at ReCommunity reduced Delaware’s carbon footprint by 535,000 tons of carbon emissions or the equivalent of removing nearly 3 million cars from the road.”
The Universal Recycling Law is structured to maximize recycling rates and diversion of waste through a comprehensive statewide system of recycling that includes effective and convenient recycling programs for every Delaware residence and business. The first major milestone of this law was for waste haulers to provide their single-family residential customers with recycling services by September 15, 2011. The next milestone was for waste haulers and property managers to implement multi-family residential recycling by January 1, 2013. The third major component called for businesses, non-profits, organizations, municipalities, and schools to participate in a comprehensive recycling program by January 1, 2014.
The Universal Recycling Law established a grant and loan program to help businesses, non-profits and schools establish or expand a recycling program. Through this program, DNREC has provided more than $6.7 million to dozens of businesses, schools, municipalities, and non-profits to bolster recycling programs. Funding came from a 4-cent recycling fee paid by retailers to the State on certain types of beverages sold. This fee will sunset today (Dec. 1, 2014), meaning retailers will no longer have to pay the fee on beverage containers sold, nor should they be charging the fee to customers. The recycling fee provided revenue for the Delaware Recycling Fund and has been used for the exclusive purpose of funding specific activities and grants designed to enhance the state’s recycling rate and the diversion of recyclables that would otherwise be landfilled. Though the funding source will end, DNREC has enough revenue to support the grants program at least through 2015.
December 1st also marks the extension of the at-store plastic carryout bag recycling program. The at-store plastic bag recycling law – in effect since 2009 – has been given a three-year extension, meaning medium and large retailers in Delaware must continue to provide bins for the purpose of collection and recycling of plastic bags.
Stores will also have reusable bags available to purchase for use in lieu of plastic bags. Plastic bags are problematic for recycling processors because they become tangled in the sorting mechanisms at material recovery facilities. Plastic bags can have significant environmental impacts to animals and marine life, as litter strewn in public spaces, and can clog up storm water management systems.
To learn more about recycling please visit: www.recycling.delaware.gov or call DNREC’s Recycling Program managed by the agency’s Solid & Hazardous Waste Management Section 302-739-9403.
