Marshall County Solid Waste District Director Marianne Peters presented an ordinance to the commissioners Monday morning that would repeal the waste reducing and recycling ordinance from 1998.
Peters said discussions at the Solid Waste District Board meetings produced this ordinance. Commissioner Michael Burroughs further explained that the ordinance mandates that companies wanting to do waste hauling business in the unincorporated areas of Marshall County are to offer recycling services as well. It has come to the attention of officials that many businesses are not providing recycling and the ordinance is difficult to enforce.
County officials encourage recycling as much as possible, but the ordinance just does not reflect the current climate.
Peters noted that people are paying higher prices for waste hauling and recycling, not knowing if the service may or may not be occurring.
“People want to recycle and recycling is the future,” said Peters. “At the same time, I don’t think people should have to pay for ineffective services either. We need to find a way to make recycling affordable and equitable and effective so that we are doing the right thing and diverting recyclables from the landfill. We need to do it in a way that’s affordable for people of Marshall County.”
She commented that a recycling discussion has to be held in Marshall County about how to improve the act of recycling.
The commissioners unanimously approved the first reading of the ordinance that repeals the waste reducing and recycling ordinance from 1998. The rules were suspended and the second and third readings were approved, thus adopting the ordinance.
The ordinance is in effect January 1, 2023.
Other details will be researched with other proposals to be reviewed at a later date.
