New legislation aims to light a fire under Florida's lukewarm recycling efforts.
Blending a market-based approach with more rigorous reporting requirements, House Bill 7243 aims to move the state closer to its 75 percent recycling goal by 2020.
That on-again, off-again target, originally set by lawmakers a decade ago, has receded into the distance in recent years. Some Florida communities' recycling rates barely top 30 percent.
While environmentalists blamed a lack of education and follow-through at the local level, recycling companies cited declining prices for used paper, plastics and glass. Meantime, Florida's landfills grow ever-higher.
HB 7243, which was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist, went into effect July 1 andestablishes a Recycling Business Assistance Center to coordinate between state agencies and the private sector to develop new markets for recyclable materials locally and globally.
Florida has talked about recycling for more than 30 years. Great strides have been made by cities and counties in curbside recycling, but curbside is just the tip of the iceberg," said Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, R-Tallahassee.
"Helping businesses find profitable uses for recycled material is the ultimate answer to reducing energy consumption and the never-ending need for more landfills, she added.
To achieve that goal, HB 7243:
modifies the states procurement system to create purchasing preferences for recycled goods;
implements county programs for recycling construction and demolition debris;
requires space and receptacles for recycling by tenants and owners of new commercial and residential properties issued a certificate of occupancy as of July 1, 2012;
mandates reporting by the Department of Environmental Protection to the Legislature on the states progress toward meeting its 75 percent recycling goal;
establishes a grant program for counties with populations less than 100,000 residents for solid waste management, litter prevention and control, and recycling and education programs.
Recyclable goods can and do fall through the cracks when communities fail to provide business and residential pickups. Apartment and condominium complexes are notoriously underserved. Even large public venues -- from parks to stadiums to airports -- lack recycling containers.
In the absence of comprehensive programs, recycables simply wind up in landfills, further blighting the landscape and ballooning the budgets of solid-waste districts.
"This (bill) will keep marketable materials out of our landfills and extend their life, saving cities and counties money, said Rehwinkel Vasilinda, who co-sponsored the legislation with Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs; and Reps. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers; and Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven.
To tighten the waste stream, HB 7243 strengthens provisions to require public schools, colleges and state universities -- as well as all municipal, county and state buildings -- to report recycling rates to their respective county.
This is just one more piece of the puzzle toward energy independence. Recycling uses just 10 percent of the fuel thats required to produce the original product," Rehwinkel Vasilinda said.
Noting that the bill requires Enterprise Florida to provide technical assistance to the DEP in forming the business assistance center, environmental and business groups supported the bill as a step forward -- ecologically and commercially.
While we did not get everything we wanted, we are pleased to see the establishment of a Recycling Business Assistance Center that will help develop the market for collected recyclable materials so they can be incorporated into new products," said Florida Sierra Club representative David Cullen.
Jessica Shearon, a member of the Sustainable Tallahassee Recycling Committee, witnessed successful recycling and reuse methods during her travels to Europe and South America.
If other countries can achieve an organized and effective recycling structure, why cant we? she asked.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 802-5341.
