Island recycling efforts take a complicated turn

Implementing a townwide recycling program for Hilton Head Island is almost the exact opposite of passing the townwide smoking ban, Councilman John Safay said Wednesday.

Once the smoking ban got past the hurdles of public opposition, implementing it was simple.

The recycling effort, on the other hand, has been met with broad public support, but figuring out how to implement it has been inordinately complicated, Safay said.

A consultant hired by the town said the various considerations -- different waste haulers serving the island, private communities and the transient tourist population -- create an unprecedented level of challenges. Another challenge is the cost for condominium complexes to add space for recycling bins.

"Hilton Head Island has proven to be the most complex and daunting of all the communities she's worked with, large and small," Safay said of the consultant.

Safay addressed a group of about 20 residents Wednesday at a meeting of the League of Women Voters of Hilton Head Island to discuss the latest developments in the town's recycling efforts.

Safay also presented some figures to be considered:

• The estimated cost to taxpayers of a townwide mandatory program is about $40 to $60 a year.

• The average person on Hilton Head creates about 900 pounds of trash a year, and the town overall recycles about 8 percent of its waste. The town hopes to get that number up to near 35 percent, a goal set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of South Carolina.

• The town already requires all waste haulers to offer residential recycling service, but only about 1 percent of residents participate.

Safay said the council will probably only succeed in creating a recycling program if the town is directly involved, most likely by contracting with one or two waste haulers to be the designated recyclable collectors. Leaving it up to homeowners won't achieve the kind of participation the town wants, he told the crowd.

"There's going to be a degree of mandatory imposition on folks to make it work," he said. "We need to have the town involved in the administration of this program."

The town will hold a public meeting Oct. 1 to discuss possibilities for mandatory recycling and the results of the consultant's report.