Waste Proposal Sets Core Tenets

Reducing waste, recycling and increasing awareness were the core tenets of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s proposed 10-year solid waste plan presented Thursday night after the Benton County Solid Waste Management Board meeting.

Wendy Cravens, director of the waste district, addressed the proposals in the state agency’s plan. The local solid waste district already meets many of the proposed requirements, she said.

The state agency updates its solid waste plan every 10 years and is three cities into a statewide listening tour gathering public comments on the proposals. Six subcommittees determined several needed changes to the statewide plan. One major proposal is to change the focus from tracking waste to emphasizing a reduction in waste and an increase in recycling and composting, said Elizabeth Hoover, environmental program coordinator for the state environmental agency.

Committees advocated for required curbside pickup for trash and recycling in cities with a population greater than 5,000 and convenient drop-off locations for recycling in cities with fewer than 5,000 residents. It also suggested more frequent pickup for bulky items and yard waste.

Cravens said all the cities in the Benton County Regional Solid Waste District with more than 5,000 residents already offer curbside pickup for residential trash and recycling. She said 78 percent of the district’s residents have curbside pickup through their cities, while most of the other residents contract privately with trash haulers. She estimated only 5 percent don’t have any sort of pickup.

She said one way to avoid illegal dumping and ensure that all residents have trash service is to divide the county into franchise zones and require each zone have service.

Fewer residence have recycling than have trash service — roughly 63 percent have weekly pickup. Another 12 percent have monthly pickup, while others who wish to recycle can drive to one of 10 drop-off centers in the district. Cravens said the district’s goal is to add more drop-off centers so that no one has to drive more than 15 miles to recycle.

Most residents, 71 percent, also have yard waste pickup available on a weekly basis. The district provides a fee-based drop-off program for as well.

Bulky waste haul-off is provided on a monthly basis for 69 percent of the district’s residents through their cities. The district will pick up bulky items at a charge, or residents can drop off the items at Benton County’s convenience center. The county subsidizes the cost of bulky items for residents, offering it for free at the convenience center.

Robert Hunter from the environmental quality agency said the plan would advocate for cities to offer more consistency in the types of recyclables they accept. He said all cities should offer recycling for paper, metals, plastic, glass, electronics, white good, tires and car batteries. He admitted some plastics are hard to accept because there isn’t a steady market for them.

He also said solid waste districts should create a website to provide “good, basic” information on hours, drop-off locations and types of materials accepted. The Benton County district already has a website with the required information, Cravens said.

Cravens said the district is exploring building a waste-to-energy plant in the future. The district currently sends materials to the Eco Vista landfill in Tontitown and to other out-of-state facilities. Hunter said he recently visited a landfill in Sebastian County that was earning about $100,000 a month by capturing the methane gas coming off the landfill materials.

Louise Mann of Fayetteville spoke at the meeting about her concerns regarding solid waste in Arkansas. Mann, owner of Waste Reduction Resources, said she would like to see more concern for efficiency rather than convenience and more care shown to those who work on the front lines of the recycling industry.

Mann is against the state embracing dirty materials recovery facilities, which are facilities that separates out the materials combined in recycling bins. She said she is concerned about the people who work in the facilities and the hazards that they face.

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Benton County Solid Waste District

To learn more about the Benton County Solid Waste District, visit www.bcswd.com.

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