Recycling expert advises against incinerator

‘‘The marketplace is smarter than all of us. Why hasn't the marketplace built [a landfill] in over 20 years?” said Eric Lombardi, executive director of Eco-Cycle. ‘‘Until you answer that question, don't write a big check because you're the guinea pig.”

As leader of Eco-Cycle, Lombardi is passionate about waste diversion as a clean and ethical way to deal with trash. Eco-Cycle volunteers brought recycling to Boulder in 1976, making it one of the first 20 communities in the U.S. to offer curbside recycling.

It provides business recycling collection and drop-off centers as well as educational programs for regional schools. Eco-Cycle also operates the county-owned Boulder County Recycling Center.

Lombardi advised a group of Frederick County and city officials and residents Monday that businesses, communities and government must work together to all decide what's the best way to deal with waste.

‘‘Government just needs to arbitrate between the conflicting interests, between profit and community health,” he said. ‘‘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 said much of what ends up in landfills could be sold for a profit instead. A San Francisco report released last month found that there's a market for 85 percent of what's going in the landfill.

‘‘It's cheaper to make paper out of paper, bottle out of bottles,” he said.

The waste diversion industry is changing, Lombardi noted, and it's no longer all about recycling. ‘‘Starting in 1989, we were on the verge of an explosion of recycling,” he said. ‘‘Now, I think we're going to see a composting facility building boom in the next 10 years.”

Boulder itself encourages residents to recycle, and plans to offer curbside pickup for compostable waste, such as food scraps and grass clippings.

Lombardi told city and county officials that a three-can system in Frederick County - one for recyclables, one for compostables and one for everything else - would lead to a 30 percent to 40 percent diversion of waste from the landfill in one year.

Throughout Lombardi's presentation and tour Monday of Eco-Cycle's facilities, Frederick officials asked questions and listened intently. Frederick Alderman C. Paul Smith (R) was among them.

He and Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger decided to travel to Boulder and meet with Lombardi and other officials for one simple reason, he said: ‘‘The city's going to have to weigh in, and we want to weigh in, so we should be educated about all of the issues involved.”