Pinellas County s Beach/Park Recycling Program

Transcription

1 Pinellas County s Beach/Park Recycling Program Jan Tracy, Program Coordinator Pinellas County Division of Solid Waste jtracy@pinellascounty.org 727/

2 Pinellas County Facts Population 270,109 Unincorporated 24 square miles 650, Municipalities 920,381 TOTAL Most densely populated county in Florida 588 miles of coastline 4,242 acres of county parks & beaches plus 15,525 acres of preserves Approx. 18 million annual visitors to county parks

3 Why is beach recycling needed? Tourism is #1 industry 13 million annual visitors Beaches are the primary attraction NO beach recycling program was previously in place Parks Department supports beach recycling and wants to offer it to park visitors Beach recycling is consistent with Convention & Visitor s Bureau s message that Pinellas County is eco-friendly Cities support beach recycling and wish to offer to residents Consistent with county s green image

4 Pilot Study Summary Pilot Study conducted March 1 June 30, 2006 to study need, best practices and potential of success Tested in county access areas and on adjacent beach areas in three locations Tested three types of collection containers Tested container location and signage Targeted aluminum cans and plastic bottles; included newspaper at one location Included waste composition study and beachgoer survey

5 Pilot Study Results Valuable lessons learned Containers distinguishable from trash, lightweight for emptying Develop a theme or brand so users recognize program Locate bins on beach for easy use and next to trash cans Include glass even if not officially advertised Cautious about collecting newspaper and magazines as it could invite contamination

6 Pilot Study Results continued Over 99% of beachgoers surveyed want to recycle at beach Measureable Success Recovery Rate - recycled 66% - 75% (by weight) of targeted materials depending on pilot study locations Recycling Rate - reduced trash (by weight) by 33% - 47% depending on pilot study locations Contamination Rates - from 7.5% to 19% (by weight) depending on pilot study locations Glass - comprised of an average of 64% of recyclables collected by weight

7 Changes Since Pilot Study - to save costs & simplify program Used durable plastic containers to save money instead of metal or fiber glass One container size originally planned to offer 30 & 50 gallon container options depending on location and available space. Simplified to 32 gallon as participants agreed one size could meet their needs Set-up collection consolidation points to reduce collection pick-up locations Eliminated signs as Parks Dept did not want additional signs in beach areas. Determined bright containers with hot stamped logo and information stickers were sufficient Partnered with cities to use existing infrastructure and promotion avenues

8 Recycling Bins 32-gallon blue recycling bins with beverage hole in lid and drainage holes in bottom Started to collect aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Now take glass & mixed paper. Approximately 550 recycling bins at 26 beaches and parks 8

9 Developed Logo Logo developed to promote recycling on the beaches and in recreational areas. The sun is similar to Pinellas Suncoast Logo can be used universally in the 24 cities and in the unincorporated areas Cities added their own logo information using stickers

10 Information Stickers on Lid

11 Phase 1 & 2 Program began as a phased approach Phase 1 locations included those with existing collection infrastructure Phase 2 locations requiring new collection infrastructure

12 Phase 3 - Moved into interior county parks To be continued into county boat ramps and interior park locations

13 Program Logistics City staff empties 32 gallon containers and places in dumpster if have the existing collection infrastructure If city does not have a dumpster location to deposit the recyclables, county solid waste provides recycling dumpster and service collection County parks staff empties 32 gallon containers and places in recycling dumpster location

14 Program Logistics (continued) County solid waste provides all 32 gallon containers and stickers, and distributed them to the cities at no cost Cities installed containers along their beaches County solid waste provides all containers, posts and hardware to the county parks. County solid waste or parks dept. installs the equipment Dumpster size dependent on available space and how staff is emptying into dumpsters one container at a time or use of automated cart?

15 Installed Recycling Containers Hanging hardware for containers Locations along beaches Beach entrance area

16 Collection Dumpsters Collection enclosure in beach parking lot Collection dumpster in park maintenance yard

17 Outreach Website: Press release, flyer, advertisements in local newspapers

18 Lessons Learned So Far Recycling collection contractor does not like the bags Place recycling container next to trash container Consolidate recycling containers on garbage posts Connect lids to post independent of the bottom container to make direct tipping easier

19 Where do we go from here? Develop a model to assist with collection management and recycling impacts Continue to expand into more interior parks, boat ramp locations, bayside part of the county and other public spaces Support partnerships with cities to expand their recycling programs to public spaces Promote loaning 32 gallon containers for recycling at events

20 Questions? Jan Tracy, Program Coordinator Pinellas County Division of Solid Waste 727/