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BACKGROUND <br />In November 1988 the Washington County Board of Commissioners <br />approved the Washington County Recycling Implementation Strategy <br />Plan. The plan contains very aggressive programs to ensure the <br />development of permanent local recycling programs including <br />residential and commercial recycling and yard waste programs. <br />One of the major programs included local government <br />responsibility for residential recycling and the establishment of <br />residential source separation goals for local government. The <br />residential goals section from the Recycling Implementation <br />Strategy (RIS) is included. in Attachment 3. <br />As is described in the goals section of the RIS, previous source <br />separation goals contained in the County's Solid Waste Master <br />Plan could be achieved through residential recycling, yard waste <br />composting, and commercial/industrial recycling. Because of the <br />difficulty in measuring new commercial/industrial recycling <br />efforts, the growth in the solid waste generation rate of the <br />County, and changes in yard waste programs, the source separation <br />goals have been refined. <br />In March 1988 the County Board adopted the new residential source <br />separation recycling goals for cities and townships for 1989 of <br />5-10% of the residential waste stream and 10% for 1990. <br />County level goals for yard waste and commercial/industrial <br />recycling will be established later in 1989. <br />The residential source separation goals were established based on <br />a review of the composition of the solid waste stream and a <br />review of other metropolitan county goals. They are included in <br />Attachments 1 and 2. <br />On March 10, 1989 a meeting was held with city and township staff <br />to discuss the development and establishment of 1989 and 1990 <br />residential recycling goals. Sixteen of the 32 cities and <br />townships within the County were represented. They suggested <br />that there should be more flexibility on the types of materials <br />that can be collected and counted towards meeting the goal, but <br />that the performance levels were acceptable. That change has <br />been incorporated. <br />In 1988 'Washington County communities recycled 1,887 tons from <br />the residential waste stream. This included some materials that <br />would not count toward the proposed goal. The 1988 level was <br />about 3% of the residential waste stream. The proposed goals of <br />5-10% for 1989 and 10% for 1990 are aggressive, but achievable, <br />as new programs develop. <br />1 <br />