Earth Day quest: Mandatory recycling
After more than two years of being in the “investigation” stage, the Fort Myers Beach Town Council is once again looking into establishing a basis for mandatory recycling for businesses and multi-families (condominiums) on Estero Island. The subject was one of the agenda items at a council work session on Wednesday, April 14.
On Jan. 7, 2008, a draft ordinance for mandatory recycling was introduced on the town council agenda to further the requirements of the Town Interlocal Agreement with Lee County Solid Waste. This action followed the Lee County Board of County Commissioners enactment of county ordinance 07-25 to require mandatory recycling of non-residential solid waste on Sept. 11, 2007.
The Town draft ordinance was moved to be investigated by town staff with the county to be less onerous on businesses and condos and to get a handle on the cost of enforcement and be brought back for discussion. Its purpose is to ensure recycle materials generated and accumulated by multi-family properties and commercial establishments be “source separated and collected from the solid waste so that recyclable materials are not deposited at a landfill, but process and reused.”
Town staff is checking into the two-year-old interlocal with the county to see if it has expired before moving forward. Town Manager Terry Stewart warned the council on the use of the word ‘mandatory.’
“Don’t make it mandatory unless you’re ready to enforce it,” he said. “This would increase the size of our staff for something that I think money can be better invested in educating the public.”
Stewart further explained his position by describing proactive actions like adding town recycling bins in the Times Square area and at beach accesses.
“Do we want talk about, perhaps, putting city recycling type bins at those locations instead of hiring code enforcement officers?,” he said. “My recommendation to you is to take the proactive approach.”
According to a recent Marine Resources Task Force report, the Town Public Works Department has agreed to a recycling bin project and is looking at a test run of three bins at designated accesses to ascertain the logistics and the contamination rate of the bins.
Stewart also reported that Town staff is looking into solar battery recyclable trash cans, containers where recyclable items are compacted with the push of a button, much like Disney World in Orlando. Council members weighed in and agreed recycling education is needed.
“If we don’t demonstrate a commitment to recycling, it won’t happen,” said Councilman Tom Babcock. “You sometimes have to start with an ordinance that takes years to truly get where you want it to be. I don’t want to avoid this. We should go ahead and take an ordinance which is essentially written, go through the hearing process and give everybody an opportunity to list all of their concerns and issues. This may impact how you want to implement it.”
“I think setting a good example is one of the primary responsibilities of any environment,” said List. “Setting a good example does not require a law or additional personnel. it requires an educational component. I do think it’s important to have the policy on the books.”
List believes recycling should be a ‘more than voluntary’ situation.
“I think most large condos and a lot of businesses are finding it is cheaper to do there waste that way,” she said.
Mayor Larry Kiker, whose business did find it cheaper to recycle, would like to know what other municipalities are doing regarding their own interlocals with the county.
“I’d even like to go to some of the county-owned municipalities to see their mandatory recycling programs,” he said. “I think education has to be a component of it. I think we should pursue that anyway, and we should seek out a committee which would want to take this task. My recommendation would be to send it to CRAB (Community Resource Advisory Board) and let them start working on it.”
So, for now, Earth Day 2010 on April 22, will not see a dramatic change regarding recycling on the Beach, especially since it was reported on local television news recently that recyclables have been burned along with solid waste for the past year in Lee County.
“It is my view that you get a better end result in the long run by investing your money, by setting an example, by educating people and by encouraging people,” said Stewart.