Waste Not! Carroll

From the Carroll County Times, August 23, 2010

By Franklin Schaeffer

I would like to respond to the questions posed in a recent letter published in the Carroll County Times regarding zero waste.

The resource assessment prepared by Richard Anthony and Associates is a detailed analysis of the zero waste option. Further analysis is not necessary. Zero waste is a disposal hierarchy which includes reduce, reuse, recycle, compost, energy recovery and land filling. There is always something left to dispose of.

It is widely accepted that the achievable diversion rate in a zero waste system is around 80 percent. The Anthony assessment suggests 90 percent as a diversion goal. The commodity analysis is based on 100 percent recovery.

These higher rates create an overly optimistic fiscal analysis. The market values for the recovered commodities are higher than what Carroll County will receive as a supplier of unprocessed commodities. The report acknowledges markets don't exist for some of the commodities. The analysis ignores the expense side of the equation. As an example, the cost to construct and operate a facility to separate and recover the commodities from the waste is not considered.

The Anthony report includes suggestions and recommendations for at least eight new regulations or mandates as well as new fees. One recommendation is to require source separation of recyclables, which would negate Carroll County's very successful single-stream recycling program. Another is to only collect trash every other week. There are recommendations to regulate private trash haulers as well.

It is clear that Zero Waste will not work fiscally without significant subsidies from the taxpayers. There will also be more regulations and reduced services.

The private sector is willing to build waste-to-energy projects. Private projects are moving forward in the United States and throughout the world. Frederick and Carroll counties chose to have ownership through the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority. This arrangement best serves the interests of counties and their residents.

For the past 15 years, Carroll County has transferred the majority of its waste out-of-state, first to Pennsylvania, then to Virginia and now to Pennsylvania again. With disposal capacity becoming scarce, and costs continually rising, Carroll's waste management plan cannot be left to the uncertainty of the spot market.

What Carroll County and its residents get with waste-to-energy is guaranteed long term disposal capacity, at a predictable cost, in a responsible and beneficial manner.

Franklin G. Schaeffer

Westminster

The writer is deputy director of the Carroll County Department of Public Works.