Pinellas County's Waste-to-Energy facility is nearing its capacity. Officials project in three years it will take in more trash than it can handle.
But there's one big problem.
If whole trash is sent to the area's only landfill, that site could fill up sooner than anticipated.
Trash in Pinellas County starts out by being brought to the waste facility, which burns the garbage. The remaining ash is then sent to the landfill.
Stephanie Watson is the Recycling and Outreach program manager for the Department of Solid Waste.
"If you had 10 trucks coming in the door, same size, and they went through the waste energy facility, what will come out on the other end would be one truck of ash," she explains. "So that volume reduction reduces what we sent to the landfill."
The facility is one of the largest built. It can handle 3,150 tons of garbage every day.
Watson said, right now, Pinellas has the benefit of volume reduction. However, if the facility takes in more waste than it can handle, whole trash will have to head to the landfill.
"The landfill has 75 to 80 years left, which is the average lifespan of an American female, it's not that much time," she said. "Once the landfill is full, there's nowhere in Pinellas County to build another one. We're the most densely populated county south of New York."
Driving the trash elsewhere would be the only option at that point, which Watson said would be very expensive for residents. And as the county's population grows, so does the amount of waste produced.
So for now, the plan is to try and curb people's trash output.
Watson said one idea to solve the garbage problem is implementing mandatory recycling.
"Our studies show that 60 to 70% of what is going into our Waste-to-Energy facility could have been recycled through other means," she said.
Watson met with municipalities, private haulers, and select county departments earlier this year to get input on how to solve the issue. They came up with a master plan that includes 28 strategies in 2020.
She calls them "possible solutions" to help achieve the goal of zero waste to landfill by 2050.
"We have a garbage problem. And our solution is to implement the master plan and we need the public's input — we appreciate their support and we're there to listen to them," Watson said.
One strategy recommended in the master plan is a mandatory recycling ordinance, or the "universal recycling ordinance."
"If collection is organized in the unincorporated areas and recycling is included as part of the standard collection service, the universal recycling ordinance would primarily focus on the commercial sector. The commercial sector generates more than half of all waste generated in the County," the plan explains.
Incorporated areas in the county have had curbside residential recycling programs for nearly 10 years, but unincorporated area residents contract directly with their trash haulers.
Another strategy would implement collection in the unincorporated areas using a 3-phase approach.
"The first phase includes customer and hauler outreach; the second phase includes implementing a non-exclusive franchising system, and the third phase includes implementing exclusive franchises. Organized collection would include curbside recycling as part of the standard service for residents, and may include separate yard waste collection."
The master plan will be shared with the public at upcoming public meetings. They are free to attend. The county will be asking for input
on potential revisions to county ordinances from residents, homeowners, and businesses as well as suggestions for slowing the amount of waste produced and what they'd be willing to support.
- Monday, July 17, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. — virtual meeting on zoom. Register here for the meeting.
- Wednesday, July 19, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. — located at Harbor Hall, 1190 Georgia Ave., Palm Harbor. Register here for the meeting.
"We want to make sure that we can keep managing our garbage for decades in the future and preserve this finite asset," Watson said. "It's an asset to the county that we have the waste energy facility and the landfill and we want to keep it where it's at."
