• Recycling Bill Killed
In its closing days, the State House of Representatives killed a bill that would have established a mandatory residential curbside recycling program statewide.
The defeat of House Substitute 1 for House Bill 146 almost guarantees the 144th General Assembly will be grappling with the issue again when they resume action in January.
State Rep. Pam Maier (R-Drummond Hill), one of the bill’s prime sponsors, said mandatory curbside recycling was overdue. “Voluntary programs have been in place for 15 years and the percentage of material we’re recycling has remained stagnant at 14%,” she said.
The legislation set minimum benchmarks for boosting recycling. By the start of 2010, 30 percent of residential waste and 50 percent of commercial refuse would have been expected to be recycled.
The act would have levied a three-dollar-per-ton assessment on all non-recycled solid waste disposed of in Delaware, creating a fund to help pay for various aspects of the recycling system.
However, support for the measure seemed to drop away during a floor debate that centered on a provision in the bill dealing with yard waste. The bill sought to encourage the creation of private yard waste management facilities and charged the Delaware Solid Waste Authority with creating such facilities should they fail to materialize.
Yard waste management became a hot topic in New Castle County after it was banned from the Cherry Island Landfill earlier this year. That ban has since been delayed until the start of 2008.
Some critics of the measure said the yard waste plan needed to be better delineated,
while others had problems with the bill’s forced approach to recycling.
In the end, the bill only received 15 of the 25 votes it needed for passage.
A separate bill, House Bill 159, sponsored by State Rep. Bob Valihura (R-Delaware
North), sought to establish voluntary curbside recycling programs. The House
ended its 2007 legislative session before taking up the measure, but the bill
will be available for action when lawmakers return to Dover in 2008.
Another bill, also dealing with waste management (House Bill 246), will also be waiting for House lawmakers. Rep. Maier’s bill seeks to establish a system for creating “trash and recycling districts” to serve the unincorporated areas of New Castle County.
Such districts - formed with the input and consent of residents - would give a single waste-hauler the exclusive rights to service a defined geographic area. The county would solicit bids, award contracts and tax residents to pay for the service.
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