Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 17, 1990 TAG: 9006150303
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
A feasibility study for the county was prepared by Draper Aden Associates, a Blacksburg consultanting engineering firm. The study concludes with 21 recommendations for implementing a recycling program in the county.
The Board of Supervisors is expected to forward it to the state Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy at Monday's meeting.
Also, through the efforts of existing recyclers, it appears the county is close to meeting the 1991 recycling requirements.
"Floyd County is going to be in a pretty good position to meet the first two [state] goals," said Pat Therrien, who took over operation of the Floyd County Recycling Center in late March. "There's interest and there's the attitude of people in Floyd County - `We can do it.' "
The General Assembly last year mandated that all localities recycle 10 percent of their waste by 1991. This increases to 15 percent in 1993 and 25 percent in 1995.
Much of the machinery for meeting these recycling requirements in Floyd County already is in place. The county recycling center, located at the landfill, handles a wide variety of materials, including glass, paper, and aluminum. Martin Recycling specializes in scrap metal from automobiles.
Clark Brule II, an engineer with Draper Aden Associates, estimates that Floyd County is currently recycling 9 percent of its waste, based on estimates of the efforts of recyclers and industry. He added this did not include small-scale recycling, which might push the total over the 10 percent mandate for 1991.
This quick start by Floyd County is not really a surprise.
"I've been to a lot of places . . . that had no recycling, but those were counties in Southside Virginia," explained Lynn Croy, project engineer for Draper Aden Associates. "But Floyd has a lot of Blacksburg university people [from Virginia Tech], and there are a lot of environmentally conscious citizens out there."
Already, the recycling center has established its first remote location at Smith's Store in Copper Hill. Therrien said she hoped to have three more remote locations, all in the town of Floyd, operational within the next month.
The biggest challenge facing Floyd County will be meeting the 1995 goal of recycling 25 percent of its waste.
"At 25 percent is where we are going to have to get involved with industrial corporations," said Therrien. "Industry contributes about 50 percent [actually 42] of the waste."
Croy said 35 percent of the industrial waste in Floyd County was cardboard and 50 percent was fabric. She added that if the county could recycle half of this material it should be able to meet the 25 percent mandate.
There will soon be an incentive for industrial recycling in Floyd County. The 1990-91 budget includes revenues from a tipping fee at the landfill.
"The most significant change in the characteristics of the trash will come when tipping fees are such that it makes more sense for people to do other things with their trash [besides sending it to the landfill]," said County Administrator Randy Arno. "They will then find ways to recycle their waste."
The initial proposal by Arno called for a tipping fee of $15 per ton to be charged to all industrial and commercial haulers.
The county also is showing its dedication to recycling in other ways. For the first time, the county budget has a specific amount to be set aside for improvements to recycling facilities in the county.
"It's something we've got to do," said Supervisor Lowell Boothe, who led the fight for the inclusion of the recycling money in the budget. "We don't have any choice in the matter."
by CNB