Currently, several haulers operating in this county export part of their waste to outlying landfills. Under this new proposal, those haulers will be required to deliver this waste to the ACC landfill, which will INCREASE the amount coming into the landfill adding literally tons more waste and producing the opposite effect of what the franchising system is intended to do.
Some Commissioners have recently stated that the current system does not “yield an efficient outcome.” We can only assume that this is based on the Recycling Divisions Fiscal Year '07 Annual Report which shows recycling numbers for some private haulers as going down from the previous year. But what the Report does not say is that the reduction has occurred because these haulers began taking their recyclables to facilities outside of Clarke County that pay them for the recycling material (Athens-Clarke County does not pay for recycling material). The fact is that we ARE doing a very good job of recycling, but much of it does not come to the Clarke County Recycling Center so the numbers are skewed.
There has been no mention from the Commissioners of the "Enterprise Fund," which is an account set up specifically for use at the landfill (upgrades, expansion, etc). This fund made $645,000 last year in INTEREST. As of '07, the fund had $18 million in the bank. This is money that has accumulated from fees charged to dump waste at the Athens-Clarke landfill. As an example, a medium-sized local hauling business pays the landfill approximately $35,000 in "tipping fees per month. We are paying our fair share and there is more than enough money available to make more efficient use of the landfill and recycling facilities if they would choose to do so.
The reality is that we, the citizens of Clarke County, are doing a good job of recycling already. Yes, all of us can do better and we're fully supportive of that, but this proposal is not the answer.
