Agenda - 08-07-1997 - 3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Solid Waste plan for Orange County North Carolina July 16, 1997 Introduction The governments of Orange County have set ambitious waste reduction goals for 2001 and 2006. Based on a 1991-92,the goals are 45% and 61% waste reduction per capita. The 61% overall goal seems to be an odd number, but it is based on the 50% goal originally established by the Owners Group,based on the 1988-89 base year. Arithmetically, the amount of reduction stays the same to reach a 61% goal compared with 1991-92. The primary difference is that UNC power plant coal ash was 7,000 tons in 1988-89 and 23,500 tons in 1991-92 and is now gone from the waste stream into a privately operated composting program. (see table 2-1) The framework adopted for the plan is the result of long and intense study of a variety of options for reducing solid waste. Chapter 4 on public participation contains a significant history of solid waste planning in Orange County, NC as part of the documentation of public participation. Beginning in 1986, Orange County has implemented expansions of recycling, innovations in landfill technologies, vertical landfill expansion, and other efforts to reduce the use of landfill space. We have diverted brush, leaves and white goods from landfilling since 1978. Consequently,we have extended the projected life of our existing landfill by an estimated eight years over the originally projected closing date of 1997. Faced simultaneously with difficult decisions on landfill siting, reorganization of local solid waste management functions and selection of a solid waste reduction plan and goals has resulted in a protracted planning process. We are well aware that the framework for waste reduction presented in this report is but a beginning towards a very challenging process of implementing the plan for reducing solid waste in our County. We are encouraged by the commitment to the preliminary design and planning phase of the materials recovery facility during the coming year and the commitment to the first stage of the construction and demolition waste reduction programs. The reorganization of solid waste functions in Orange County appears to be entering its final phase. A draft contract is now circulating among the governments that will codify solid waste management. The local governments have agreed in principle that the County government will take over landfill operation, administration and the other activities now performed by the Town of Chapel Hill Solid Waste Department. Those activities include recycling and waste reduction, solid waste planning, management of the landfill funds, and various analyses and technical tasks related to solid waste planning, landfill operation and management, and location of future facilities. The landfill siting activity continues to be a challenge. The Landfill Owners Group has now established a work group with neighbors of the current landfill to develop a compensation package for those neighborhoods that have borne the burden of the current landfill since 1972. That same compensation process may apply to the same neighborhood if the new site chosen adjoins the existing site. That new site, known as OC-17 has been voted on favorably by The Town of Chapel Hill and Orange County. It has not been finalized as the selected site. i