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County To Weigh Recycling Options

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By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: January 22, 2009

NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County officials are keeping a close eye on a pilot project by Accurate Waste Systems to expand curbside pickup of recyclable trash.

"I'd like to see all the haulers doing it," Pasco County Commission Chairman Jack Mariano said of Accurate Waste Systems' example.

The private hauler collects cardboard and other paper products and yard waste in addition to the other recyclables in the county's voluntary blue bag program. There are seven types of recyclables, but the blue bag program is set up to handle only three:

•Plastic containers bearing the No. 1 and No. 2 triangular recycling symbols.

•Aluminum or bimetal cans.

•Clear, green and brown glass bottles and jars.

Mariano hopes the commission will revisit recycling options early in 2009. Nearly a year ago, in February 2008, commissioners devoted an entire workshop to the topic.

Pasco officials hope more recycling will delay the need to expand the Pasco County Resource Recovery Facility, which could cost $150 million. Mariano would like to see Pasco mimic a high-tech recycling sorting facility like the one that operates in Polk County.

In addition, biomass such as tree trimmings is a potential source of fuel such as biodiesel blends.

In the meantime, with trash threatening to swamp the resource recovery plant, Pasco signed a contract to export a minimum of 30,000 tons of trash each year to Osceola County. Pasco, however, barely met the minimum threshold for trash exports to Osceola this year, Mariano said.

So Hernando County's director of utilities, Joseph Stapf, spoke with Pasco officials about a temporary agreement under which Hernando ships its trash to Pasco's wasting-burning plant in the Shady Hills area. Hernando wants to buy some time while working out landfill permit issues.

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