June 20, 2007
Letter to the Editor:
The mandate from the public is clear – we support recycling, but don’t ask us to spend more money doing it. The legislature has before it House Substitute 1 for House Bill 146 – a mandatory recycling bill complete with incentives to increase our low recycling rate from our current 14% to a 30% rate by 2010.
Voluntary programs, in place for 15 years, have kept us at a stagnant recycling rate of 14%. We can do better! Our children and grandchildren will thank us for saving their earth.
This consensus bill encourages consumer friendly recycling. We will be asked to separate our recyclables from our garbage and simply place the two containers on the curb. The haulers will then collect these separated items and take them to a local processing facility.
If you’re concerned about enforcement, it will begin at the landfill. DSWA checks the hauler’s loads and will remind them to kindly inform their customers of the proper procedure if necessary. Before we know it, recycling will become second nature and you’ll wonder what took us so long to get here.
The cost and implementation of this mandatory recycling program will be market
driven. Private haulers and municipalities throughout the state are already
offering competitive and innovative programs to their customers. We need to
build upon their initiatives and pass this bill by June 30, 2007. Please call
your state representative and state senator to ask them to vote YES on HS 1
for HB 146.
Sincerely,
Representative Pamela S. Maier
21st District
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