Assessment of Prince George County’s Recycling Program
Robert E. King & Dr. Samuel Moki
University of Maryland, University College
ENVM 649 - Principles of Waste Management and Pollution Control
Dr. Jordan Trecki
01 December, 2013
Info
Dates
Similarity
Term Paper
Start
28-Oct-2013
3:57PM
Due
01-Dec-2013
11:59PM
Post
03-Dec-2013
12:00AM
7%
Table of Contents
I. Abstract
II. Plan Background and Usage
a. Curbside Collection
b. Convenience Centers
c. Multi-Family Housing
d. Public Schools
e. The Dream Machine
f. Commercial Recycling
g. County Office Recycling Program (CORP)
III. The Success or Probability of Success of Prince George’s County Government’s Recycling Strategy
a. Prince George’s County Government and the Challenges of Recycling
IV. Transforming Challenges into Success or Probability of Success
a. Curbside Recycling
b. Single Stream Recycling
c. Implementation of New Recycling Containers
d. Expansion of the Recycling Program and Acceptable Recyclable Materials
e. Adequate Staffing
f. Maintenance of an Adequate Database
g. Education and Outreach
h. Calendar Year
V. The Cost and Benefits of Prince George’s County Government’s Recycling Strategy
VI. Application of Prince George’s County’s Recycling Strategy to Other Environmental Issues
VII. Appendix A
VIII. References
I. Abstract
Prince George County is located in the middle of the Baltimore and Washington Corridors, 37 miles south of the city of Baltimore, and boarders Washington D.C. with almost five hundred square miles of area under its jurisdiction. The recycling program for this county consist of a single stream recycling program for residential waste, along with two multi-material convenience centers where people can drop off recyclable waste or refuge. This waste may include yard waste, plastics, glass, margarine, or metal containers, just to name a few. At current, 26 of the 27 municipalities operate a curbside pickup program, whereas the last maintains that drop off points be utilized. Of these, 17 actually maintain their own separate curbside recycling programs. All of these programs are maintained utilizing tax dollars received from homeowners in the county.
II. Plan Background and Usage
Prince George County’s recycling plan is part of a ten year solid waste management plan derived in the year 2012 under direction of the state of Maryland’s Title 9, Subtitle 5, Environment Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, and Regulations .01-.05 under COMAR 26.03.03, entitled “Development of County Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Plans” (DOER, 2012). The County’s Solid Waste Recycling Act (County Code, Section 21-142 et seq.) was created at the same time as the Office of Recycling, and still serves as the law today. All of these programs were written into law to be completely voluntary, except for those living on multi-family properties, so long as the county could maintain a series of progressively increasing waste reduction goals. The first of these goals was set to be a 35 percent waste reduction by the year 2000, which Prince George County surpassed in 2001 with a reduction rate of 35.12 percent. (DOER, 2012) Waste reduction and reuse is seen as an integral part of the recycling program, and as of current, the county has surpassed every waste reduction goal set forth, with each year’s percentages available in Appendix A.
While recycling has been occurring inside Prince George’s county for some time, it was not until 1988 that the county created the first government sponsored recycling program within five areas of the county. These were primarily pilot programs, designed to test the feasibility, functionality, and usefulness of the program, and to determine its further use within the rest of the existing areas. Meeting with some success, by 1993 the county opened its own dual stream Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Capitol Heights, and also set up curbside collection routes to transport the recyclable materials to the facility. Fourteen
