Taking out the trash: it's law in Indiana. Come up with a plan to cut garbage in half by the turn of the century. Can local government do it?

• Author: Reid, Robin
• Position: Includes related articles - Environment

It's a massive task that's drumming up lots of business for environmental consultants. But will it even work?

This spring, about 60 governmental entities known as solid-waste management districts will be putting the finishing touches on plans to deal with solid waste--better known as trash or garbage, what most of us send to the landfills. The districts are under a July 1992 deadline set by 1990's Comprehensive Solid Waste Bill, often referred to by those in the environmental industry as Indiana House Bill 1240. The ultimate goal set by the law: Reduce the amount of trash going to landfills by 35 percent before January 1996, and by 50 percent before January 2001.

It's a lofty goal--and, most would agree, a worthy one. Whether it's realistic is another question, but there's pretty much agreement on strategy. "Our biggest way of doing it will be by recycling," predicts Joseph B. Wuertz, director of the Daviess County Solid Waste Management District in Southwest Indiana. Wuertz is confident major recycling plans can work, noting that neighboring DuBois County already has had tremendous success with a recycling program. "What motivated them was the cost of putting it into the landfill. They did it before the Indiana regulations came on line; it was a cost-cutting necessity."

Though its plan is still in the works, the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District already has given indications of the direction it will take; it has established a recycling center and composting station for residents to use, says Jim Murray, the district administrator.

Recycling is such a good option, Wuertz says, that it alone ought to be able to generate most of the 35 percent reduction in solid waste. And he thinks it can be done by the deadline four years from now. "The problem with all of this, however, is the ability to get rid of the stuff once you've collected it. And that's something we're going to have to have some help with."

Finding markets for recyclables is, indeed, one of the fundamental issues in recycling. The propensity to recycle has been growing much more quickly than the ability to use the recycled materials. "The people who have been buying these things have been inundated," Wuertz says. He recalls an article in a trade publication, illustrated by a trash bag in a tux. "Garbage: All Dressed Up But No Place to Go," it was called. The illustration was funny; the article wasn't.

As an example, Wuertz points to the experiences of a local non-profit group that for years has raised funds by collecting and selling old newspapers. These days, he says, the only nearby dealer that will pay anything for newsprint will accept only newsprint, no brown paper grocery sacks or slick inserts. Another dealer will accept sacks, inserts and magazines, but won't pay; obviously, the group deals with the recycler offering cash. That leaves behind a lot of paper that may be recyclable but is not economical to collect.

There are other obstacles as well, notes Brian R. Miller, executive director of the Northeast Indiana Solid Waste Management District, which includes DeKalb, Lagrange, Noble and Steuben counties. Curbside recycling is one of the most effective ways to reduce waste from the residential sector, but much of Miller's district (and much of Indiana, for that matter) is rural, where curbside programs are much less cost-effective.

Also, curbside programs often are run in conjunction with the municipal trash pickup, and there are some two dozen municipalities in Miller's multicounty district. That'll take some coordination. And coordinating recycling with industry--which generates between a third and a half of the waste in his area--is another challenge. Though a survey he has conducted...