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Recycling Must Become Way Of Life

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2008

Although many details have to be worked out, Pasco County commissioners are right to finally get serious about recycling trash. Residents should buy into it as well.

But it's incumbent upon commissioners to develop an easy-to-use recycling program that will encompass much more than the few materials collected now in blue bags, which residents must purchase if they want to participate.

And once the new program is developed, it's just as incumbent upon commissioners to thoroughly educate residents about why they should participate.

Recycling is good for the environment - it's something residents should do every day. Just as important, a stepped-up county program would help reduce the volumes of garbage that the county must dispose of. It won't be a cure-all for Pasco's growing solid waste disposal issues, but it's an extremely important step.

The estimated 400,000 residents living in the unincorporated part of the county produce, on average, seven pounds of trash a day - about half-a-million tons every year. But recycling is barely making a dent; only about 4,000 tons of plastic, aluminum and glass are recycled annually.

The great majority of the county's garbage is incinerated at the county's facility in Shady Hills - which is now operating over capacity - or transported to another county.

Pasco officials and residents can do much better than this. Mandatory recycling, along with a more user-friendly system, will be integral parts of a solution to the garbage problem.

A system that would allow residents to put recyclable materials in bins for sorting by others at collection centers would make it easier for residents and encourage widespread participation. That would be a far cry from blue bags.

Generally, residents are in favor of recycling because they understand the importance of it. Many residents, especially those who moved here from other states, are frustrated by the county's outdated, limited system. It's up to county commissioners to deliver.

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