When you drive around the Hills on a weekday morning you will see blue bins outside of nearly every house. The residents in Hollywood Hills have long been committed to protecting our environment and ecosystem through recycling. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, the past several years have seen a significant decline in Broward County’s recycling rate. Since the Resource Recovery Board ended in 2013, we have seen our recycling rate drop by over 30 points. But good news is here! After two years of hard, collaborative work, we are taking major steps towards adopting a County-wide comprehensive solid waste system that features a unified disposal and recycling education plan. Our sights are set on reaching our recycling goals and creating a more sustainable Broward County.
The County collaborated with all 31 cities in the county for a consultant report that presents recommendations for facilities and policies to get us back up to a 75% recycling rate. We had a blueprint. But we needed collective action.
In 2019, Broward County government joined with all 31 municipalities in an agreement to work together to create a comprehensive solid waste system and the Solid Waste Working Group (SWG) was formed. As the Broward County representative and Co-Chair of the SWG we have met every other week for the past two years to discuss what is needed to form a system that can work for generations to come. These efforts culminated in two significant achievements this month:
Broward County and all 31 municipalities have formally signed on to a Memorandum of Understanding for a Waste Generation Study. How much and what kind of trash do we throw away? This study will help us find out and the data generated will help us determine what type of recycling and waste facilities are needed to hit our goals. It is a major step forward.
In addition, Broward County and all the municipalities are hard at work on producing an interlocal agreement that would create a Solid Waste and Recycling Authority (SWRA) that would become an independent entity that manages solid waste in Broward County. This SWRA would vote on facilities, policies, bonds, and much more. It will help set us on the path for a sustainable system for 30 years and beyond. We will be looking for public input on what this Authority would be named – so if you have any clever ideas, e-mail my office!
Trash may not be the sexiest topic but our solid waste and recycling capabilities pay major environmental and economic dividends. Where our garbage goes and what becomes of it is no longer an issue we can ignore. Hills residents have shown over the years that they care about recycling. You deserve a system that meets your effort and preserves your neighborhood. We are making major progress, and our beautiful home will be better off because of it.
Our District office is conveniently located in the lobby of the Hollywood Branch of the Broward County Public Library at 2600 Hollywood Blvd, next to Hollywood City Hall. Our office is open and available to you from 10 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday. If you would like to schedule an appointment, or you have a great idea, suggestion or an issue that needs my attention, feel free to call me at 954-357-7006/7790 or send me an email at bfurr@broward.org.
