Lawmakers Tuesday continued to sort out how Florida will recycle plastic bags, construction and demolition waste -- and make them pay off. The Senate's Environmental Preservation and Conservation hearing was a packed house.
Senate Bill 570, sponsored by Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, aims to clarify the conditions under which waste-to-energy can be used as an option for meeting the state's goal of seeing 75 percent of all plastic, paper, metals, glass, textiles, rubber materials and mulch recycled by the year 2020. It also would require all public entities to recycle, and all public and certain private entities to report disposal of recyclable materials to their respective counties.
The bill alsodirects the Department of Environmental Protection and Enterprise Florida to create the Recycling Business Assistance Center. The Business Center would be created by Dec. 1, 2010 and would coordinate policy and strategic planning for developing markets for recyclable materials.
"I think everybody is OK with the goals we have established in the legislation," Constantine said. "Where the problem comes is getting local governments to decide who will get the franchises and what materials are being regulated. That has caused some angst from the DEP and local governments."
Recycling of plastic bags stirred the most controversey and discussion.TheFlorida Retail Federation objects to the state imposing expensive mandates on businesses.
"The plastic-bag issue is one we have dealt with for years," said Samantha Hunter Padgett, deputy general counsel for governmental affairs. "We think it's best for the state to oversee that issue, because if you have several cities and counties with different regulations concerning how they would be recycled, it would be very expensive to provide operators to deal with all of the different regulations."
The mandatory reporting regulation in the bill also has retailers concerned. "We believe a voluntary provision would be better. Mandatory reporting would be burdensome to some companies," Padgett said.
According to a report issued by the DEP, liners and leachate collec tion systems would be required for construction and demolition debris. It would also require all such debris be processed at a materials recovery facility prior to disposal.
"When you get into the question of construction and demolition materials, the issue is what would be and wouldn't be deregulated. We have to acknowledge that those waste materials are very much a part of the recyclable stream, and we have the technology to separate the material and dispose of it properly," Constantine said.
According to Constantine, to get construction and demolition businesses to comply with a recycling mandate may require easing the goal set for their materials. "That would mean that you couldn't put any more than 60 percent of the waste in the centers in 2012," he said
Florida has not changed its recycling laws in 20 years.
"We're currently sitting at 28 percent of recycling," said Mary Jean Yon, director of the Department of Environmmental Protection. And, increaisng that percentage would be worthwhile, she said.
The bill will be taken up by the committee for further discussion next week.
John Hinds can be reached at (850) 727-0859.
