Agenda - 08-30-2000 - 7 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM. To: Orange County Board of Commissioners John Link, County Manager From: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Management Director Subject: Other Solid Waste Issues Date: August 24, 2000 The items in this memorandum relate to information requested by the BOCC at the public hearing on Solid Waste Plan update at the regular August 15, 2000 business meeting. 1. Electronics recycling: There are ongoing national efforts on electronics recycling including: • a comprehensive report issued last year by the US Environmental Protection Agency, • regional efforts led by Triangle J Council of Governments as a follow-up to the "Future Search" meeting on solid waste issues held in February 2000, and • upcoming workshops on electronics recycling scheduled for North Carolina solid waste managers October 24 in Charlotte and October 26 at IBM in RTP. Orange County Solid Waste Management staff is very interested in further work in this area. We will need to explore the various collection options such as single day events, permanent sites, partnerships with retailers, collaboration with other jurisdictions including school systems, and various marketing options for materials that could be collected. We anticipate bringing the BOCC a complete list of options for local or regional program opportunities, including a recommendation, later this year. 2. On-site construction waste grinder: In June 2000, Solid Waste staff attended a demonstration of a piece of equipment designed to grind C&D wastes at the point of generation.... The grinder costs around $85,000 and is not yet widely available. Grinders are custom-built and appear most appropriately used in small-scale, light residential construction projects. On-site grinding can be performed for two primary outcomes. One is to grind material and have it remain on-site; the other is to haul it away for burial or recycling elsewhere. Some of the key potential policy issues regarding the grinder use for material that will remain on-site are: • how to encourage source separation so that only the organic/inert materials are ground for on-site reuse, and not environmentally harmful/not legally permitted materials, i.e. treated wood, plastics, etc. • how to address the issue of the decomposition of organic materials resulting in settling or voids Some of the key potential policy issues regarding the grinder use for material transport are: