07-28-1982 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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FACTORS WHICH PREVENT IMPLEMENTATION Each component of the waste management system which now serves Ramsey County, whether the method of collection, transportation of waste or pricing structure, is disposal oriented. Organizationally and economically, the existing system is tilted toward the use of landfills and away from landfill abatement. The organizational and economic factors which essentially reward disposal and discourage landfill abatement are closely related. Recycling provides a good example of this point. A recycler removes material from the solid waste stream, sells the material to secondary materials markets and is compensated at the current market price for a given material. Yet for each ton of material recycled, the hauler (and not the recycler or the homeowner who recycles) is in effect subsidized by not hauling and disposing that ton of waste. If the direct economic benefits of recycling (i.e., the avoided transportation and disposal costs which amount to $22.00 per ton in 1982) were returned to the recycler, there would be adequate incentive to pursue this landfill abatement alternative. The factors which constrain implementing major resource recovery projects are similar, but more involved The sizeable capital investment normally associ- ated with "high technology" resource recovery alternatives, combined with the variable nature of key factors such as projected energy prices, BTU content of the waste, projected energy demands of the market and interest rates; represents a significant constraint. Additionally, the long -term guarantee of a steady supply of waste is an organizational factor which constrains the implementation of resource recovery facilities. KEY ACTIONS TO IMPLEMENT PLAN The recommended strategies for implementing this Landfill Abatement Proposal require key policy decisions on the organization of the solid waste system and financing of landfill abatement programs. Details on the specific steps to implement the County's proposal are provided in the main body of the report. This summary deals with the key County decisions required to implement the proposed abatement programs. 1. Organized Collection . Implementation of a Countywide organized collection system is the corner- stone of Ramsey County's landfill abatement proposal because: * organized collection provides a contract within which any require- ment for separate collection of recyclables can be made; it provides systematized curbside recycling by arranging for same day collection in an entire district; * it provides a contract within which any requirement for flow control, such as to a resource recovery facility, can be made; and * it increases system efficiency, and thus provides savings that could be used to finance abatement programs without increasing costs to consumers. 71