Cathy Salustri Portfolio

Pinellas County Utilities Recycling Programs Recycling Programs

Pinellas County Utilities implemented their recycling program in 1989 in response to the State of Florida’s 1988 Solid Waste Management Act. The legislation required counties to meet a 30 percent recycling goal by 1994. Pinellas County first met that goal in 1992.

Recycling Subcommittee

The recycling committee, a subcommittee of the TMC, exists to educate the citizens of Pinellas County about waste reduction, recycling and buying recycled products. The subcommittee includes partner cities, business partners, and private waste haulers. The subcommittee meets once a month at Pinellas County Utilities Department of Solid Waste Operations located at 3095 114^th Avenue North in St. Petersburg or a partner city location.

v <link>Next meeting date and location</a>

v <link>Agenda for the next meeting</a>

v <link>Minutes from the last meeting </a>

v <link>Archived minutes from past meetings </a>

Recycling Centers

Pinellas County Utilities operates eight recycling centers in the unincorporated County. Residents can bring newspapers, plastic, cardboard, aluminum cans, junk mail, and magazines to these centers for recycling (not every site collects all these items; please visit our recycling centers page for more information). We routinely inspect the sites and transport the materials to a recycling facility when the containers reach capacity. Many cities also provide recycling centers.

In addition, many Pinellas cities and some local waste haulers offer curbside recycling.

Yard Waste Recycling

The yard waste-to-mulch program began in 1990 and has 12 participating cities. Participating cities deliver segregated yard waste consisting of tree trimmings, grass clippings, palm fronds, and soft timber to the mulch area where it is ground in a tub grinder at a rate of 22 to 30 tons per hour. We then place the ground material in windrows where we monitor temperature, oxygen, and moisture content for a minimum of 45 days. We follow the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agriculture Science’s protocol for mulch sterilization. This dictates building windrows at a certain height so that temperatures inside the windrows reach at least 132 degrees Fahrenheit, which helps destroy weed seeds, plant pathogens, and harmful insects, thus producing a product safe for public distribution. The program produces approximately 20,000 tons of mulch per year, available FREE to residents at 23 distribution sites in Pinellas County.

Used Oil Recycling

Don’t Throw it Away!

Used oil thrown in the trash can cause contamination at the landfill. When dumped on the ground, used oil soaks through the soil and can contaminate the aquifer (an important source of drinking water for Pinellas and other counties) or run off into storm drains that flow into lakes, creeks, or even Tampa Bay. Used oil in any of these bodies of water can harm or even kill fish, birds, and other wildlife drinking or swimming in the water. The motor oil from just one oil change can contaminate a million gallons of drinking water.
It's important to take used motor oil to a recycling center or ask that your oil be recycled when you get your oil changed.

The Environmentally Friendly Oil Change

For hints on performing an environmentally oil change, <a >click here </a>.

<Below on a separate page>

Before you start: Avoid working on grass or dirt. Have ground cloth, rags, funnel, tools, oil pan, and a clean, dry plastic container with a secure lid ready.

Do use:

· an empty oil container from your last oil change

· clean, empty milk, water, or juice jugs

· any other clean plastic container that has not been used to store chemicals

Do not use

· plastic bottles that have been used for bleach, cleaners, other automotive fluids, or paint

· containers used for gasoline

· any metal container

1. Drain the oil from the car's engine into a pan that can hold twice the volume of oil in the crankcase. Draining should be done when the oil is warm to ensure that any sludge flows out smoothly. Allow the oil to drain until the oil is flowing at a slow, intermittent drip.

2. Replace the drain plug and move the oil pan to a location where you can safely pour the oil into a container.

3. Using a funnel, pour oil into a clean plastic bottle with a lid that screws on tightly.

4. Clean up small quantities of spilled oil with absorbent material (such as paper towels, mulch, or rags). You can put these in a plastic bag in the regular trashcan.

Clearly label container as "Used Oil." Never mix used oil with any other liquids, including water. Mixed automotive fluids cannot be recycled.

<end separate page>

Used Oil Recycling Site Enviro-Partners List

Pinellas County Utilities has formed Enviro-Partnerships with the businesses listed below. Each business has agreed to accept your used motor oil and recycle it at no cost to you. We applaud them for their efforts to help conserve non-renewable resources.

Why Recycle Motor Oil? <link to below>

Used motor oil can be reprocessed into fuel. Processed motor oil is also used in industrial burners, mixed with asphalt for repaving, or blended for marine fuels. Additionally, 14% of used oil collected gets re-refined to its original virgin oil state. The oils are first cleaned of contaminants such as dirt, water, fuel, and additives and then the re-refined base oil is blended with a fresh additive to make the finished lubricant.

Used oil can be re-refined over and over again, and is subject to the same stringent refining, compounding, and performance standards as virgin oil.

Re-refined Oil Facts

Two gallons of used motor oil can provide enough electricity to run the average household for about one day, cook 48 meals in the microwave, blow dry your hair about 216 times, vacuum your house for 15 months, or watch television for 180 hours.

· 1 gallon of used oil produces 2 ý quarts of re-refined lubricating oil.

· Recycling used oil takes half as much energy as refining crude oil.

· Re-refined oil prices are competitive with virgin oil products.

· Mercedes Benz uses re-refined oil in every new car manufactured.

· API approved re-refined oils meet warranty requirements for new automobiles.

· The United States Postal Service and National Park Service use re-refined oil in their vehicles.

· If the oil generated by all do-it-yourself oil changers in America were collected and re-refined, it would provide enough motor oil for over 50 million cars annually. This would reduce our dependence on imported oil, could help reduce our trade deficit, and may provide more jobs.

Closing the Loop…Buy Recycled

Recycling makes sense for plenty of environmental reasons, but don’t forget it’s a business, too. When you put something in a recycle bin, that product has just begun its new life. Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) buy these products from Pinellas County Utilities and process them into materials that they can sell to a remanufacturer. Remanufacturers make new products, which get sold to consumers. If consumers don’t buy things made with a certain type of recycled product, the recycling companies don’t want to buy that much of the product, and ultimately it ends up in the trash.

Recycling companies want to recycle as much as they possibly can, rather than disposing of the collected recyclable materials. That’s why consumers play such an important part in closing the recycling loop. Every time you buy something made with recycled materials, you’re casting your vote for recycling. The more consumers purchase products made with recycled materials, the more demand recycling companies will have to meet, and more items will come full circle in the recycling process. As the demand for recycled products increases, the price of products made with recycled products will go down, too.

When shopping, read labels carefully. Products labeled “recyclable” means only that the product can be recycled in some places, not that it is made with recycled materials.

Look for labels that read “Made with post-consumer content” or “Made with recycled materials.” You’ll find another important phrase on many of Pinellas County Utilities printed materials: “Printed on Recycled Paper”.

Recycled Gift Wrap

Every year Pinellas County Utilities designs a new gift wrap style that they print on recycled paper. You can get this unique, all-occasion wrapping paper for free at various locations throughout Pinellas County.

v Gift Wrap Distribution Sites

v See the Designs

Public Education

Pinellas County Utilities recycling program represents a coalition of Pinellas County governments (both city and county), community action organizations, private waste haulers and recyclers, non-profit organizations, the school board, and the media. The <link to TMC section> Pinellas County Technical Management Committee </A> recycling subcommittee oversees the program. To foster public participation in Pinellas County’s recycling program, the committee uses a well-planned public education program. The innovative campaign includes the following:

· Teacher Recycling Workshops
These workshops are held for Pinellas County educators twice a year, and provide information that teachers can use to incorporate waste reduction and recycling into their curriculum.

· Workshops
These are held throughout the year to educate the public on a variety of topics including buying recycled products, waste reduction, and single and multi-family recycling.

· Speakers Bureau

Pinellas County and its recycling subcommittee partner cities provide speakers for schools, as well as for youth and adult civic groups. Speech topics can be selected that cover all facets of solid waste management from waste reduction and recycling through incineration and disposal.

· Facility Tours

Pinellas County offers tours to the public by appointment only. Tours may include the entire facility, or may focus on one operation such as the landfill or the waste-to-energy plant.

Commercial Recycling Programs

Coming Soon!

Business Recycling Awards

This annual event, held in April, recognizes businesses for their leadership in waste reduction, recycling, buying recycled, and public education. Information on the 2002 awards coming soon!