Amending
A
di
th
the S
Source
Separation Ordinance
In Mecklenburg County
January 22, 2013

This is a business recycling
y
g law,, which
was adopted by the Board of County
Commissioners and all seven
municipalities requiring that business
municipalities,
entities contracting for 16 cubic yards or
more of trash service per week separate
their office paper and corrugated
cardboard for recycling purposes and
provide for the collection of these
materials.
What is the Source Separation
Ordinance?

No business entity shall be held liable for failure
of its tenants and/or customers to comply with
the requirements for the source separation of
designated materials,

nor shall any municipal solid waste collector or
transporter of recyclable materials be held liable
for the failure of its customers to comply
p y with
such regulations.

However, all business entities subject to the
ordinance must provide a separation system for
their tenants, employees, and/or customers, and
must provide notification regarding the use and
participation in such system.
General Provisions

Business Entity – Any business,
proprietorship,
i t
hi fi
firm, partnership,
t
hi person in
i
representative or fiduciary capacity,
association, venture, trust, corp. which is
organized for profit,
profit or non-profit
non profit corp
corp. or
entity, including all commercial,
governmental, industrial and institutional
entities.
entities

Certified Mixed Waste Processor – A business
entity certified by the Director to collect
mixed loads of designated materials and
municipal solid waste and then separate the
designated materials from the municipal solid
waste for recycling purposes.
Definitions

Collection – The aggregation of solid waste from the place
at which it was generated and includes all activities up to
the time when the solid waste is delivered to an approved
disposal and/or recycling facility.

Designated Materials – Corrugated Cardboard and Office
Paper.

Municipal Solid Waste – Any solid waste resulting from the
operation of residential,
residential commercial,
commercial governmental,
governmental
industrial, or institutional establishments that would
normally be collected, processed, and disposed of through
a public or private solid waste management service. Does
not include hazardous waste
waste, sludge
sludge, industrial waste
managed in a solid waste facility owned and operated by
the generator of the waste for management of that waste,
or solid waste from mining or agricultural operations.
Definitions

Separation System – A system or process to
separate designated materials from municipal
solid waste for the purpose of recycling. This
includes a method by which users of the system
are educated
d
t d regarding
di
its
it proper use and
d the
th
ordinance requiring it.

Temporary Service Location – A temporary use of
land which generates municipal solid waste such
as construction of a building, demolition of a
building turkey shoot
building,
shoot, outdoor seasonal sales
and any other similar use of land which either
does not reoccur on the same site, or does
reoccur but only sporadically.
reoccur,
sporadically
Definitions

Corrugated Cardboard – Any structural kraft
paper material having smooth exterior liners with
an inner core shaped in rigid parallel furrows and
ridges, but excluding boxboard, foreign
corrugated cardboard,
cardboard and containers which are
contaminated by any material that will make
them not marketable or which have non-paper
liners.

Office Paper – White and colored office paper,
computer paper, and copy paper, including those
with laser and non
non-laser
laser printing,
printing but excluding
ground wood paper (newsprint type), and papers
which are contaminated by any material that will
make them not marketable or which have nonpaper liners.
Definitions





If the business g
generates less than 500
pounds a month of either material, they
are exempt from separating that material
If the business is operating from a
temporary location
If the business is contracting
g with a
certified mixed waste processor
If physical constraints preclude
compliance
li
If compliance would cause the business to
break another law
Exceptions

The Cou
County
y began
b ga enforcing
o
g the
Ordinance in July 2003.

One full-time inspector

In Fiscal Year 2012:
◦ more than 1,100 inspections were conducted.
◦ 38 PNOVs and NOVs were written.
written
◦ to date, all sites have come into compliance.
How is it Enforced?

Starting in 1997, Mecklenburg County and local
businesses embarked upon a five year program to
voluntarily reduce the commercial waste going into
landfills.

The Board of Commissioners adopted the 10-year
S lid W
Solid
Waste M
Management Pl
Plan on 8/15/00 which
hi h
established a 2006 per capita waste reduction goal of
19% from fiscal year 1999 and a 2010 per capita
waste reduction goal of 23% from fiscal year 1999.
History of the Ordinance

A Source Separation
p
Ordinance Task Force
was formed in August 2000.

The Board of Commissioners adopted the
Source Separation Ordinance on 1/1/02
based on the recommendations of the County
taskforce composed of business leaders and
government officials.
History of the Ordinance

The O
Ordinance
d a
was
as approved
app o d for
o
Unincorporated Mecklenburg County, the
City of Charlotte, and all Mecklenburg
Towns.

The original
Th
i i lO
Ordinance
di
contained
t i d a sunsett
clause, which was lifted on April 19, 2005,
making it law.
law
History of the Ordinance

NC House Bill 859 established a state goal
g
of 40% per capita reduction in disposal of
municipal solid waste by 6/30/01.

Session law 2005-362 An Act to Prohibit
the Disposal
p
of Motor Vehicle Oil Filters,,
Rigid Plastic Containers, Wooden Pallets
and Oyster Shell in Landfills
(U d Oil,
(Used
Oil Y
Yard
d ttrash,
h white
hit goods,
d
antifreeze, aluminum cans, whole scrap
tires,, lead acid batteries).
)
Relevant Legislation & Policies

Session Law 2005-348 An Act to require
q
holders of Certain ABC Permits to Recycle all
recyclable containers of all beverages sold at
retail on the premises and to prohibit the
Disposal of Those Containers in landfills or by
incineration.
Relevant Legislation & Policies

Since the Ordinance was p
passed in 2001,, the
number of recycling companies servicing
Mecklenburg County has greatly increased.

There are approximately 30 companies that
collect paper and cardboard for recycling
purposes from business entities in the
County.

There are three single stream MRFs that
service the business community with a third
on the way.
Infrastructure

The Cou
County
y op
operates
a s almost
a os 140
0 Drop-Off
op O
Centers that accept both paper and
cardboard and are open to the public.
Infrastructure







Lower the threshold to 8 cubic yards
Require that
h new construction and
d remodel
d l
permits submit a diversion plan and establish
minimum diversion requirements
Require all businesses to submit recycling
plans
Implement
p
ag
generator fee to fund recycling
y
g
Develop an ordinance requiring space for
recycling in new commercial buildings
Supportt continued
Suppo
co t ued development
de e op e t of
o single
s ge
stream recycling
Consider increasing enforcement of ordinance
Recommendations from SERA
(Skumatz
Skumatz)
) Study - 2008




Lower
o
the threshold
s o d to
o 8 cubic
ub yards
ya ds
Reduce or eliminate the 500 pound
exemption
Add mixed paper to the ordinance
Add bottles and cans to the ordinance
Recommendations from DSM
Study - 2011





Lower
o
threshold
s o d of
o SSO
Remove or reduce 500-lb exemptions
Expand
p
materials affected
Remove temporary site exemption
Tracking and measurement of commercial
waste stream
Potential Changes to Ordinance
Identified in SWMP - 2012
Population
FY 1998/99 Base /
Year
FY 2001/02 SSO Passed
FY 2010/11 Current
FY 2016/17 if no new programs
Disposal Tons
Tons/Person/Year
% Decrease
618,853
641,072
1.04
NA
713,780
615,519
0.86
17%
923,944
513,081
0.56
47%
1,027,829
637,665
0.62
40%
FY 2016/17 with
SSO Expansion
1,027,829 600,852
0.58
44%
FY 2016/17 Goal
FY 2016/17 Goal
1,027,829
575,376
0.56
46%
SSO Expansion defined as reducing threshold to 8 CY, removing
500-lb exemptions and adding mixed paper, bottles and cans.
Potential Diversion as Defined in
Solid Waste Management Plan



S next meeting
Set
g
Develop ongoing meeting schedule
Identify
y any
y additional information needs
Steps Moving Forward