Business plays important role

‘‘Government just needs to arbitrate between the conflicting interests, between profit and community health,” said Eric Lombardi, executive director of Eco-Cycle, which operates a county-owned recycling center in Boulder. ‘‘Politicians have to lead here. Waste is a social issue. If you leave it to business, you’re just going to get more of the same.”

Lombardi told a group of Frederick County and city officials and residents in Boulder on Monday that businesses, communities and government must work together to decide on the best way to deal with waste.

Lombardi said much of what ends up in landfills could be sold for profit instead.

Montgomery County has heard the message, though its goal is not as ambitious as zero waste. It wants to recycle 50 percent of the 1.2 million tons of trash businesses and households generate, according to Alan Pultyniewicz, recycling coordinator with Montgomery’s Division of Solid Waste Services.

Of that 1.2 million tons of trash, 50.6 percent comes from businesses, 41.4 percent comes from single-family homes, and 8.1 percent from multi-family home, Pultyniewicz said.

Businesses recycle 37.3 percent, single-family homes recycle 56.2 percent, and multi-family households recycle 13.5 percent.

The county has a recycling rate of 43.2 percent. The goal is 50 percent.

‘‘We’re well on our way,” said Pultyniewicz.

Montgomery realized 15 years ago that businesses would be crucial to that effort. Since March 1993, businesses have been required by law to recycle.

The program, which is called ‘‘SORRT” (Smart Organizations Reduce and Recycle Tons), requires businesses to comply with the county’s recycling regulations within 30 days of opening to the public.

‘‘We work with businesses and make recommendations on how they can train their employees to recycle,” Pultyniewicz said. ‘‘We try to ensure compliance.”

Under the initiative, businesses are required to recycle paper, aluminum cans, foil, metal, steel, glass bottles, yard waste and Christmas trees.

Businesses must have a recycling plan in place that includes a goal of reducing trash by at least 50 percent a year. They are also required to submit an annual recycling report to the county. But Montgomery does not collect the recyclables from businesses.

‘‘Businesses have to contract with independent and private collectors,” Pultyniewicz said. ‘‘We do not provide pickup or collection.”

Frederick County does not seem poised to mandate that businesses recycle, though it is working on a way to persuade them to voluntarily recycle.

When the new transfer station opens in July at the Reich’s Ford Road landfill, the county will have more room to hold recyclables. The transfer station will hold trash until it is ready to be shipped out of county to landfills in Virginia.

‘‘We do have a plan,” said Frederick County Board President Jan H. Gardner (D). ‘‘When we have the transfer station in mid-July we will have the ability. ... We’ll have one pit for regular trash and one pit for recycling. We’re moving in the right direction.”