Zero-waste goal discussion trashed
TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Ulster County Resource Recovery Agency officials are holding off discussion of whether they want to adopt a goal of achieving zero solid waste and what steps would be taken to get them there.
The update was provided during a video conference board meeting Monday, with officials reviewing a letter received from county Legislator Manna Jo Greene, D-Rosendale, asking for a commitment to a goal set by lawmakers a year ago.
“I feel (county legislators) really need to pass the plan and then we have the next two years to really review a lot things, then they do the bi-annual review,” board Chairman Fred Wadnola said.
The delay in passing a memorializing resolution comes as county legislators are being asked to adopted the agency’s 10-year plan that was approved by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The document contains a summary statement saying the agency wants to “reduce waste generation to move towards zero waste” as the highest of nine priorities, and it contains a 10page section on the types of programs intended to be used to get there.
However, in the letter from Greene, agency officials are being asked to demonstrate a willingness to work with county legislative committee when developing the programs.
“To realize these goals, we specifically request the UCRRA adopt a resolution to develop a comprehensive zero waste imitative, which would then be incorporated into the (local solid waste management plan) at the first 2-year review,” Greene wrote.
In a telephone interview following the session, Greene said the plan does not have the same level of detail about programs used to approach zero waste as it does about the use of biomass facilities and landfills.
“There is quite a bit in here but it’s aspirational, not implementable,” she said. “Doing a landfill study in the first year that’s implementation . ... They’ve addressed
a timeline for when they’re going to do a feasibility study, when they’re going to get funding, and they’re going to start construction.”
Agency board member Katherine Beinkafner said the legislature’s 2019 resolution does not provide enough information to be used as a guideline for developing plans that are more specific than already included in the long-term plan.
“That piece of documentation is an abomination,” she said. “I would be embarrassed to say it was ours. So I think they need to go back, they need to define ‘zero waste,’ they need to figure out what they’re doing, and I have no clue why some Recycling Oversight Committee is going to tell us how to proceed with zero waste.”