Recycling Envy

For years, whenever we've heard a recycling question asked of local officials, the response heard has been some variation of "it's just not cost effective." So when we started reading the Orlando Sentinel article on recycling in Central Florida, we expected more of the same...officials from all over the area saying that they'd like to, but it just isn't cost effective. Imagine our surprise as we read down the list of counties, outlining all of the items that they not only accept for recycling, but pick up curbsite at residents' homes. Then we got to Osceola County, the only county in Central Florida with the note "There is no curbside pickup for recyclable materials."

Then we started digging into the statistics. For the counties with curbside recycling, the average percentage of household waste (from single-family residences) that was recycled, rather than going to the landfill, was between 22% (Brevard) and 59% (Volusia), based on 2004 numbers. The percentage that went to recycling in Osceola? 7%.

We note that in Kissimmee, when the commission recently discussed increasing the sanitation service fee, one of the reasons that costs had increased was the increased dumping cost at the landfill. Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate whether curbside recycling should be offered in Osceola County.