ERC requests
county funds for recycling
By GREG
MOORE
Express Staff Writer
The
Environmental Resource Center has requested between $25,000 and $30,000
from Blaine County for its fiscal 2003 budget to fund a community
education program on recycling.
"We’ve
got a recycling program up and running here," said ERC recycling
program coordinator Craig Barry. "It’s just not running at peak
efficiency."
The
county will set a tentative budget on Monday. After that, the budget can
only be reduced, not increased.
Barry
said an increase in recycling would reduce the county’s costs at the
Ohio Gulch Transfer Station.
Barry
said the requested funds would be used to print brochures and conduct
recycling audits at local businesses. He said many business owners are
unaware of ways to reduce waste and to recycle more materials.
Barry
also said there are public misconceptions about local recycling. For
example, he said, many people think glass cannot be recycled. He said
that although recycled glass is not made into new bottles and jars, it
is used as a fill in the Ohio Gulch inert materials landfill. That
reduces the need to mine gravel for the same purpose, and saves the
county $19 per ton to haul the glass away. He said 446 tons were
recycled last year.
"There’s
a tremendous potential to increase the tonnages here," he said.