Common interests in
reducing
solid waste

Last week’s action in the General Assembly that killed an eight-year process to build a regional landfill in the Green Swamp solved one problem but created another – what to do with the county’s growing waste stream.

The proposed Riegel Ridge landfill was in a marginal area at best. Even though it passed many regulatory tests, others still stood in the way. Its biggest obstacle was public opinion. Many residents didn’t want to see the Green Swamp become a dumping ground for other counties, especially with Lake Waccamaw and natural conservation areas nearby.

The increasing cost and logistical problems of getting rid of our own garbage in Columbus County, estimated at one ton per year for each man, woman and child, still remain.

The Waste Management landfill in Sampson County, where Columbus residents now pay an arm and a leg to have garbage trucked and buried, will likely be expanded, but it will become more costly year after year.

A smaller, regional landfill that would involve Columbus and perhaps adjacent counties in partnership could be built, but a landfill is a landfill anyway you cut it. Nobody is going to want one in their back yard.
Like it or not, landfills are a reality in the foreseeable future. That’s why we’re glad to see the Friends of the Green Swamp group say that it wants to continue to be a leader in county solid waste and other environmental issues. One way the group believes it can help is to promote recycling.
Recycling efforts in the county now are paltry – strictly voluntary.

Because landfills are essentially the only waste disposal option, reducing the waste stream is the best long-term solution.

Reality tells us that the best way to promote recycling is to show that it keeps money in people’s pockets. A combination of incentives and awareness will be needed.

If the county commissioners, county residents and environmental groups work together on this common cause, everybody will get what they want – fewer and smaller landfills, fewer dollars wasted on garbage disposal and a cleaner environment.

Everybody wins, but it will take resolve to prevent a future crisis if the ball is dropped and the trash keeps piling up. It will not magically disappear with the wave of a wand.