Write Your Elected Officials Today! Tell Them You Dont Want Privatized Recycling in Portage County The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is rewriting the Portage County Solid Waste Management Plan because only 67 percent of municipalities approved the plan; 75 percent approval was required by law. Many of the provisions included in the EPAs draft plan are similar to the ones in the plan Portage County commissioners wrote. For example, both include going to a single-stream recycling system. Some new provisions in the EPA plan are unacceptable to the Kent Environmental Council and the commissioners. The commissioners have asked supporters of the county-written plan to write to the governor, the EPA director and state congress members representing Portage County (see contact information at the end of this alert) to express their objections to the EPA plan. The information below provides an overview of the KECs concerns along with contact information for the appropriate elected officials. The EPA draft allows municipalities to form a consortium to obtain bids directly from waste companies for combined trash and recycling pick up for a three-year period. While the EPA frames this as choice for municipalities, the arrangement may in the long run limit the choices available for waste hauling. Consider the following: Smaller waste haulers will not be able to compete with the three large haulers who have expensive recycling facilities combined with trash hauling capabilities. Small haulers likely will be forced out of business, and jobs will be lost in Portage County. The private sector can submit low bids to gain contracts with enough of the larger and more densely populated cities in the county, which are the most profitable. This would leave the county to serve less profitable sections of the county. At a certain point, the county-run recycling facility could no longer maintain its services and facilities on this smaller customer base. With the county-run facility then defunct, the large hauling companies, who answer to their shareholders and not the public, can raise hauling prices to increase their profits, leaving municipalities without a lower-cost alternative to use instead. While the private haulers will be required to report to the county on the amounts they recycle, there is no direct oversight to ensure that the materials do not end up in landfills when recycling markets are low. (Each of the large haulers also owns a landfill.) Privatization has many hidden costs that need to be considered. For example: 1. The large haulers could decide to leave the high-cost activities, such as the recycling of hazardous materials and tires, to the county recycling district but without the benefit of reaping income from collecting recyclables. 2. The administrative costs of seeking proposals, evaluating bids and monitoring the work are costs that will be the responsibility of the county. 3. Reductions in wages and health benefits under private haulers could force more people onto public assistance and lower wage and benefit standards in the field and in the community. For related information, click here. Portage County was an early adopter of recycling and has what even the EPA calls an excellent program. Recycling is necessary to achieve a sustainable environment. At a recent meeting with the commissioners, several people essentially expressed the belief that If it isnt broken, dont fix it. Please write. Your voice can make a difference! Contact Information for State Officials Gov. John Kasich Riffe Center, 30th Floor 77 South High Street Columbus, OH 43215-6117 Phone: 614-466-3555 Craig W. Butler, Director Ohio EPA Ohio EPA - Directors Office P.O. Box 1049 Columbus, OH 43216-1049 614-644-2782 Email address not available Rep. Kathleen Clyde District 75 77 S. High St 11th Floor Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: 614-466-2004 Sen. John Eklund District 18 Senate Building 1 Capitol Square, 1st Floor Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: 614-644-7718 Form to send a message
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 21:32:44 +0000
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