Contacts:       

Lindsey Sampson, Lee County Solid Waste 941-479-8181

Margie Byers, Lee County Solid Waste 941-479-8708

Peter Goren, Department of Environmental Protection 850-488-0300

Phil Barbaccia, Department of Environmental Protection 941-332-6975

LEE COUNTY RECYCLING EARNS 1ST PLACE IN STATE

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. (September 1, 2000) – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) announced today that Lee County has the highest recycling rate in the entire state of Florida. Lee County surpassed all the counties in Florida to come out in first place in the ranking with a 38% recycling rate for fiscal year 1998. “Since 1994, counties with a population of 75,000 are required to meet a 30% waste reduction/recycling goal. Lee County has exceeded that goal every year and has continued to improve their recycling rate,” said Tom Edwards, Environmental Specialist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The recycling ranking information comes from the FDEP’s 2000 Solid Waste Management Annual Report which will be published this month.  The announcement came as part of the ground breaking ceremony for Lee County’s new Materials Recycling Facility.

“This is great news for Lee County, we have all worked very hard to achieve this honor.  We should give credit to our Lee County residents and their conscientious recycling efforts, and the County Commissioners and City leaders who had the foresight to adopt the recycling policies that make this county so successful!” said Lindsey Sampson, Director of the Lee County Division of Solid Waste.  Lee County was third in the ranking for the previous year and has never held the top ranking.  Collin Davis, Recycling Coordinator for the Lee County Solid Waste Division, attributes this ranking to the county’s public/private partnerships, which give the county more control over the program, while keeping costs competitive. Lee County has been fortunate because the county has not had to drop materials from the recycling program because the market prices have fallen, as many programs around the state and nation have had to do in recent years.

Another milestone has been reached in Lee County through the efforts of Lee County citizens and the Division of Solid Waste.  The Waste-To-Energy Facility has reached the two million tons milestone.  Two million tons of garbage has been processed at the facility since it began operations in 1995. Burning one ton of

garbage produces about the same amount of electricity as burning one barrel of oil, so two million barrels of oil were conserved by burning garbage to produce the same amount of electricity!  Additionally, the volume of the two million tons of garbage is reduced by 90% when burned, extending the life of the landfill proportionately. The burning of garbage, a convenient, renewable fuel source, helps to conserve precious natural resources, and is an environmentally friendly power source.

The 2000 Solid Waste Management Annual Report due out in September, provides a comprehensive analysis of solid waste generation, recycling and disposal in Florida primarily based on information compiled by each county for 1998. The ranking is always two years behind because the ranking requires year-end totals, which must be tabulated by the counties in a written report submitted to the FDEP. The FDEP then must verify the data and prepare a FDEP annual report. Lee County’s recycling percentage rate is calculated by dividing the total weight of recycled materials by the total weight of the waste materials. When published, the report can be viewed at the FDEP’s web site http://www.dep.state.fl.us .