Does anyone want the recycling collected by Miami-Dade County?
All the material now from 350,000 homes ends up in
western Broward County at a facility run by Waste Management.
Kessler Consulting, hired by the county to produce a
48-page analysis on recycling, reported flatly: “WMI has stated they will not
continue providing services once the current contract terminates.”
Well, in fact, Waste Management will be happy to continue
to provide recycling services for Miami-Dade. The company just wants to negotiate
a new contract rather than extend the current agreement, which was crafted in
2008.
'CONTINUE OUR PARTNERSHIP'
“WM is proud to be the environmental services provider for Miami-Dade County,” emailed spokeswoman Dawn McCormick, “and would like to
continue our partnership with the County as its recycling materials processor
at Reuter Recycling,” as the West Broward facility is called.
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| Dawn McCormick |
Kessler recommended that the county build its own
recycling facility -- to provide “long-term financial stability for the
County’s recycling program.” It suggested the facility be placed in Doral, next
to a county incinerator that converts garbage to electricity. It estimated the
cost of building a material recovery facility (MRF, or recycling center) would
cost $32 million to $38 million.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has endorsed a
county-built MRF as “the most viable option.”
DADE AND BROWARD SEEKING OWN PLANTS
Up in Broward, several local governments are also advocating for a public facility to get away from what some consider a Waste Management monopoly.
This is easier said than done, of course. Doral, for
example, is already complaining that it doesn’t want the county adding or expanding
waste facilities in its area, the Herald reports.
A central issue is that recycling collected by
Miami-Dade is astoundingly dirty, according to its own measurements: 48.8 percent
of what people put in their recycling bins is “contaminated,” meaning it needs
to be tossed in the landfill.
ASTOUNDING CONTAMINATION FIGURE
The figure is so high that it shocked consultant
Kessler: “Only in rare instances has KCI noted this scale of contamination.” It
suggested a new study to verify/alter the contamination figure.
High contamination means plenty of additional costs for a recycling facility, because it means not only extra work in separating out the bad material but also less money that the facility can make in reselling the aluminum, mixed paper and plastic that has some value.
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| Contaminated: No, balloons from your child's birthday party are NOT recyclable. |
Calculating that contamination cost would likely increase
the charges sought by companies seeking a new recycling contract. Bidders could
include not only Waste Management, but also Waste Connections, which has a recycling
facility near Miami International Airport.
In recent years, there has been huge changes in
the recycling market, with China coming and going, plus big advances in
technology that can result in more reclaimed plastic, among other things.
“WM’s recycling processing contracts companywide are
now based on a set Processing Fee per ton along with a share between the two
parties based on monthly Commodity Pricing,” McCormick emailed.
NEW TECHNOLOGY ON THE WAY
“WM has been investing $100 million annually in
recycling technology and new facilities for the past three years and has
announced an additional $800 million investment in recycling technology
upgrades at existing facilities and the construction of new facilities over the
next four years,” McCormick wrote. “The opportunity exists to bring a portion
of that investment to South Florida.”
Of course, new technology could also be built into a
Miami-Dade owned-and-operated facility, but that could also increase the costs.
For my earlier report on how technology can improve
recycling, see what Winnipeg did to become state-of-the-art:
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