Broward gets fresh look at trash disposal, recycling plan

By Rafael Olmeda South Florida Sun Sentinel

Broward County is running out of time to overhaul the way it disposes of its trash and recycling, and a host of government officials gathered Wednesday to talk about not letting another moment go to waste.

“We face a crisis,” said Mike Ryan, mayor of Sunrise and co-chairman of the Solid Waste Authority of Broward County, a consortium of elected officials who have been working on ways to increase recycling and reduce the 5 million tons of waste Broward residents and businesses send to landfills and incinerators every year.

“We rely far too heavily on landfilling,” he said. “We must change behavior to create volume reduction to divert from landfilling in every way possible.”

Ryan and co-chairman Beam Furr, mayor of Broward County, unveiled the latest draft of the Solid Waste Authority’s master plan on Wednesday during a presentation at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

Broward is looking to Palm Beach County as a model for what is possible. Palm Beach County owns its waste disposal infrastructure, including six transfer stations through a special district established by the state Legislature. In Broward, each city has independent contracts with private companies such as Waste Management and other collection companies.

Palm Beach County established its authority 50 years ago, Ryan said. It will take time for Broward to catch up — but catching up is a must.

“We cannot burn our way out of this. We cannot landfill our way out of this,” he said.

Florida State Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, echoed the sentiment and warned cities that opposition to landfills and incinerators will require a broad commitment to reduce trash and increase recycling.

Furr said Broward recycles about 30% of its waste, compared to 80% in Palm Beach County.

The master plan is still in its draft stage and will be the focus of two more public workshops next week. The first will be June 16 at Tree Tops Park in Davie, and the second June 17 at the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Event Center.

Officials hope to see the plan formally adopted later this year.

Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.