Public Comments and Responses to the IRSWMP (Appendix I) - 2009

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"Also, I think a way you're being very honest in this report is you point out that there are some things that require changes to behavior that could be controversial. I believe it's good to get right up front with that at the outset, which you've done. It'll take a lot of political will on the part of the mayor and the council and I hope the mayor does really get behind this plan that's coming out in his administration. "I think it is good to compare this to the previous plan updates, which you do cover in your report, particularly the 2002 update. Overall there's several more measure in this plan update, than in the 2002 update. There were about three things in the 2002 update that I'm not sure are well covered here in this update. I'll touch on those briefly, and one that I couldn't find anywhere was a real effort to enhance the local markets for recyclable materials. This was in the 2002 update, and I don't know that I saw that come out at all in this one: I think this is very important. There was a statement in there that they do now encourage local markets and that green waste, glass, paper, and tires are currently used locally; I might suggest a little editing there that you would say "currently a portion of the green waste, glass, paper, and tires are used locally" because it kind of appears that every bit of it is, the way it's written. Second point from the 2002 update that I thought was in an earlier draft of this one and I don't think I found now, dealt with construction and demolition waste. I thought I saw earlier that there was a C &D ordinance proposed, but I'm not sure there is now, in the final version. So it seemed like there wasn't as much emphasis in this 2009 as there was in 2002 on the construction - demolition waste, and as your figures show, almost none of that is getting reused or recycled now, it's almost all going in the landfill - a great opportunity. The third one, there is some in this update draft and perhaps the most important recommendation that you have, and this is for the county to get involved and lead by example. It's one of your recommendations there that says that "implementing programs within the County departments to improve waste - reduction practices." I think this is a very, very strong part of your draft plan, right here, is for the county to lead by example. "A couple of other points that have come to mind during the discussion here, and one that was raised, is I ran into a friend on the way here, one point you've raised is the on -site composting. I'm very glad to see that. In my own reading, and for the last few years as I've looked at what's available, I've come to the conclusion that this is just absolutely what's got to happen, evidently it really is quite the trend elsewhere. "Regarding the pay as you throw, philosophically, if you have to recognize that those who are now dumping have an incentive not to do so because there's no charge to take it to the landfill, yet they dump anyway. Pay as you throw will not change that behavior, one way or the other. So that requires something else. In regards to the pay as you throw, another example, we had a chance to visit New Zealand, they call them rate - payers there or property tax - payers, by paying their taxes they actually receive a year's supply or six months at a time, six month's supply of bags of a special color and label on them, they were charged nothing and then others were charged, whether it's someone picking up or the self -haul. "Finally, on my way here, I ran into an acquaintance of mine who was off to the mayor's talks and couldn't come here, and this person was saying that with the changes that have happened on Oahu dealing with bale and barge, evidently the mayor was challenged and a company there now is setting up their own scales to open up the market. That person's take on this that the whole integrated management plan process is becoming moot. I didn't really PUBLIC COMMENTS AND RESPONSES APPENDIX IDOC 8