The Broward County, Florida, Solid Waste Authority will move forward with its Solid Waste Management and Recycling Master Plan now that 26 member cities and the county have approved the facilities amendment.
SWA says its members will begin implementing the master plan to divert valuable waste from the county’s landfill and waste-to-energy (WTE) facility while achieving the best possible long-term costs for residents and businesses.
The master plan outlines strategic actions, including reducing waste generation through education, expanding recovery and recycling with source-separated organics, construction and demolition recovery programs and mandatory recycling ordinances, strengthening infrastructure, improving government and financial sustainability and promoting environmental equity.
“Moving the master plan forward is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to solve our solid waste crisis in Broward County and protect our economic destiny,” says Mike Ryan, SWA Executive Committee and governing board chair and mayor of Sunrise, Florida. “Now the real work begins as we move away from a fragmented system and toward a more sustainable solid waste system for generations to come.”
SWA says Broward County generates about 20,000 pounds of waste a minute—more than five million tons a year. The landfill and WTE facility, where much of the county’s waste currently ends up, have finite capacity and are nearly maxed out, SWA says. The recycling rate in Broward County is 41 percent, and its goal rate is 75 percent.
“What we are trying to achieve is not novel or unproven,” Ryan adds. “With focused policies and dedicated implementation strategies, Collier, Lee and Palm Beach counties all have recycling rates greater than the state’s 75 percent goal with four other counties at 60 percent or more.”
SWA says the master plan will implement flow control to send municipal solid waste to the appropriate facilities for processing and disposal. SWA also says it will make it easier and more convenient to recycle right by adding eight new recycling drop-off locations in Broward County, standardizing the recycling rules across all member communities and expanding its public outreach and education campaign.
“I want to thank the residents, businesses, Broward Workshop, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club and many other community partners who have been tirelessly advocating for the master plan,” Ryan says. “We are also working with Broward County Public Schools to bring a recycling curriculum back into the classrooms this school year.”
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