Orange County NC Website
Memorandum <br />To: Solid Waste Advisory Group <br />From: George Seiz, Carrboro Public Works Director <br />Lance Norris, Chapel Hill Public Works Director <br />Ken Hines, Hillsborough Public Works Director <br />Gayle Wilson, Orange County Solid Waste Director <br />Subject: Staff Suggested Priority Solid Waste Issues <br />Date: April 1, 2015 <br />Towns and County staff have been requested by the Solid Waste Advisory Board to prepare a list of solid <br />waste issues and their relative priorities for consideration and discussion at the April 1, 2015 meeting. It <br />was suggested by the SWAG that the list of issues from Attachment 1 be used as the basis of staff <br />discussions but that staff issues would not be limited to that list. <br />Your staffs are working very productively together and believe that this technical collaboration has value <br />for our respective governing boards and the SWAG, and agree that it should continue for the <br />foreseeable future. As a result of our recent staff level meetings and our discussions of various solid <br />waste issues of professional interest, the staffs have reached a consensus on the issues list and the <br />relative priorities. These are provided below. <br />It should be noted that staffs consider environmental education and outreach and public involvement as <br />essential, but agree that these two fundamental elements would be pervasive with regard to any issue <br />or service priority so they aren't listed separately. Additionally, it was agreed that staffs should <br />continually seek to improve, coordinate and refine inter - governmental communications on solid <br />waste /recycling topics in a manner that transcends all issues. <br />Guiding Principles <br />Your staffs have discussed and evaluated various topics and opportunities without an overriding concern <br />or focus on political aspects and have tried to provide a more technical or industry professional <br />viewpoint. We have utilized to varying degrees and in a general sense the following standards /criteria in <br />our issue discussions. <br />• Potential to reduce waste and /or increase recycling <br />• Other environmental impacts such as fuel usage, toxicity reduction, pollution prevention, etc. <br />• Cost and Cost Effectiveness <br />• Efficiency <br />• Citizen understanding /user friendliness /complexity /equity <br />• Industry best management practices, and <br />• Innovation /Creativity <br />1 <br />