The Eureka Recycling Center is expected to remain closed until changes are made to prepare the facility to process organic waste.
On Thursday, the Humboldt Waste Management Board unanimously considered ways to close the Eureka Recycling Center and accept recyclables at that facility or elsewhere until the county operates its organic waste facility. decided to put it on hold. The agency’s interim executive director, Eric Keller Heckmann, said the agency does not have the staff or time at this time to understand how to operate organics processing facilities and manage recycling.
“HWMA’s administrative staff simply does not have the luxury of evaluating both of these projects,” says Keller-Heckman.
The county is rushing to comply with Senate Bill 1383. This is a law that sets targets for diversion of organic waste from landfills to reduce the methane released when food, paper, garden trimmings and other organic waste decay. Methane is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is contributing to climate collapse.
Jurisdictions around the state had planned to introduce organic waste collection programs by the beginning of this year, but the state has given local governments a cushion and does not plan to start enforcing the law until 2024.
Authorities have been operating the Eureka Recycling Center since 2010, but had to close it in 2020 when the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a statewide shelter-in-place order. The center reopened to receive recycling that August, but ended its buy-back program for empty bottles and cans that fall.
To reopen recycling facilities, the agency will ensure that e-waste and Freon equipment disposal certifications are up to date, develop and distribute outreach materials, reschedule and redeploy staff, and reschedule materials. You should attend the postponed maintenance. baler.
However, while the agency does not currently have the funds to make all the changes, it is prioritizing the changes that need to be made to prepare facilities to treat organic waste.
There are limited ways in which these projects can be funded at this time, he said, because neither jurisdictions nor authorities have budgeted for these upgrades.
With this, the staff determined the three most important changes needed, Keller-Heckman said. Two of her 40-foot scales ($151,632) to weigh and track all customers. 5 roll-up door replacements ($348,347). The total cost of the three projects was $1,361,041, and Keller-Heckman recommended postponing replacement of the five roll-up doors until more funding was found.
He also suggested using financing or leasing equipment instead of outright cash purchases to free up cash on hand. It was the reserve ($363,000).
“This is by no means all-inclusive of potential costs,” says Keller-Heckman. “…these are her three key items in the first place…which allow staff to set legitimate timelines and get justified costs for certain activities.”
The largest expenditures are likely to be in transportation and disposal, but Keller-Heckman said other expenditures, such as pretreatment units, will be submitted to the board for approval in the near future.
Trinidad, Fortuna, Riodell, Humboldt County and Eureka have filed official letters in support of taking a regional approach to organic matter disposal, and the city councils of Arcata and Ferndale this week endorsed a regional approach. I plan to approve a letter to
Sonia Walaich can be reached at 707-441-0504.
