You take 2 million tons

and what do you get?
By Scott Nicholson

Watauga County will beef up its recycling efforts to head toward a state goal of 2 million tons of recycled materials annually by 2012.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources has urged counties and local governments to boost recycling programs under the “2 Million Tons by 2012” campaign, setting standards for each of the 100 counties.

Watauga would need to boost its recycling totals by 4,773 tons a year, which would require each person nearly doubling the amount they currently recycle. The average Watauga resident recycles 232 pounds a year, and to meet the state goal each person would need to recycle 452 pounds a year.

Watauga County recycling coordinator Lisa Doty acknowledged the state had set a high bar, but the county has made leaps in the last year by expanding the types of materials it collects. Doty said it's unclear what types of materials will count toward the goal, though the county has begun collecting batteries and electronic equipment under a program begun this summer.

The annual rate of recycling reported for the 2006-07 fiscal year rose to a new record of 1.35 million tons in North Carolina. To reach 2 million tons of annual recovery by 2012, local government recycling programs would need to increase their performance by 48 percent, which represents about a 10 percent improvement per year.

“We're going to promote more public participation in the program, getting more businesses in it, and taking on more types of materials,” Doty said. “Recycling electronics waste is going to make a big impact, as well.”

The county has already carried two tractor-trailer loads of electronics since it began collecting full-time in August. Doty isn't clear on what types of materials the state will be tracking, since some material, such as yard waste, is more likely to be composted in rural areas instead of going to the transfer station.

Watauga County's total recycling of plastic has risen in the past year, the result of the creation of a recycling coordinator position, more education and a broader system of collecting different types of materials. In the past year, the amount of recovered plastic rose from 35 tons to 112 tons, cardboard from 728 to 825 tons and newsprint from 542 to 669 tons.

Doty said it would be difficult to nearly double the recycling stream in the next four years, especially since the market for recycling materials has declined along with the rest of the economy. Recycling is still a voluntary endeavor, and though it can theoretically lessen the waste stream and save on landfill costs and sanitation taxes, there's little quick and direct financial advantage to inspire more people to participate.

“Right now there's not a whole lot of incentive besides doing the right thing for the environment,” Doty said. “There's not a whole lot of financial incentive. It's more of wanting to do what's right for our community.”

However, the county has made it easier to participate by adding extra bins at the waste-container sites, as well as accepting more types of material at the transfer station.

“People taking their trash to the convenience center are already there, so they're not adding any transportation costs to recycle,” Doty said.

She hopes to organize a more comprehensive and cohesive recycling program for the local school system.

Some schools have recycling programs, sometimes administered by students, but Doty would like to coordinate a system-wide recycling program, adding routes with the current sanitation staff's involvement.

DENR will measure achievement of the goal through the annual reports submitted by local governments.

These results are in turn reported in the state’s Solid Waste Management Annual Report, released to the General Assembly in January of each year.

“We strongly believe that not only can local government recycling programs increase their numbers, but that there are real environmental and economic benefits for communities and for the state in reaching ‘2 Million Tons by 2012,’” said DENR Secretary Bill Ross in a press release. “With stable recycling markets, a strong state recycling economy and plenty of communities already improving their programs, this goal is highly achievable.”

DENR acknowledged that while recycling markets are expanding as new uses are found for materials, transportation and disposal costs continue to rise, adding new challenges in meeting recycling goals.