State Money Sparks Recycling
State Money Sparks Recycling
by Ruth Kraut
On November 7, 1988, thousands of Michigan citizens voted for Proposal C. Over five years, Proposal C provides $425 million for cleanup of toxics sites, $150 million for solid waste management projects, $60 million for sewage treatment, and $25 million to participate in a regional Great Lakes Trust. In the next six months, the first Proposal C bond monies will be disbursed to communities around the state. In the case of solid waste management, the monies are already becoming an incentive to develop solid waste plans that highlight recycling and composting.
The first solid waste funds will be disbursed in the fall, and applications are due April 17. The second application deadline is in August, but those funds would not be distributed until the fall of 1990, so there is quite an incentive to turn in applications now. Applications are being accepted to assist with landfill closures, transfer stations, recycling and composting capital costs, recycling and composting education, expanding recycled material markets, waste reduction demonstration projects, household hazardous waste collection centers, and waste-to-energy facilities. There are varying restrictions and funding caps for all of these categories, and the grantee has to put in some matching funds. Still, the capital expenditures required to develop solid waste alternatives are so great that the bond money is very attractive. The City of Ann Arbor is thinking about applying in a few of these categories, as is the county govemment.
The real magnet, however, is a model program that will be funded by the bond money, called the Clean Michigan Communities (CMC) program. Communities that get money from this category will have 100% of their capital costs paid to set up model recycling and composting programs, including recycling equipment; storage areas; processing machinery; and curbside containers. A variety of recycling systems could be funded. The "communities" can be villages, townships, cities, or counties. The possibility of having 100% of the cost of establishing recycling paid for has many govemment officials chomping at the bit.
As many as 100 communities are expected to apply for between three and six slots, despite the following restrictions. The chosen communities will be expected to: enact a mandatory recycling ordinance, demonstrate fínancial commitment to operate the program for at least five years, develop a comprehensive education and participation program, and demonstrate broad-based community support. The mandatory recycling requirement was developed because the chosen communities are expected to show a real commitment to recycling. This requirement was expected to knock out less serious contenders, but many communities seem ready to embrace mandatory recycling if the payback is great enough.
There will probably not be more than one community chosen to be a CMC in all of southeast Michigan. Nonetheless, several Washtenaw County communities have indicated an interest in apply ing to be a CMC. Ypsilanti Township, which currently has no recycling, finds itself faced with rapidly increasing landfilling costs and is ready to begin mandatory recycling, if that is necessary. Washtenaw County is looking at applying as a county, and many of the townships and cities in the county are planning a joint application. Ann Arbor is considering applying either in conjunction with the county or on its own. Despite the long-shot nature of it, every group seems to think that they have a good chance at the monies.
In Ann Arbor, where a mandatory recycling ordinance just passed first reading in City Council, some people think that passage of the ordinance before the April 17 deadline would help show commitment to recycling and increase the chances of being funded as a Clean Michigan Community. According to Jeryl Davis, Recycling Education Coordinator at the Ecology Center, "It would show that a community was really serious about recycling and in a competitive situation it could give an edge."
Very few communities will actually be chosen as CMCs. Yet, the environmental pressures behind Proposal C will continue to exist for those communities that do not get Proposal C monies. Where this program perhaps falls short is that those communities who do not receive funding may not have an incentive to develop comprehensive recycling and composting.