Florida is a garbage wasteland, and it’s getting worse thanks to COVID
Sunday is America Recycles Day, and if a new survey is to be believed, Americans better get active on Nov. 15 and get to picking up and recycling.
That’s because, according to the folks who did the Best and Worst States for Waste Management survey, “this flood of garbage grows larger every year, threatening to swamp cities, states and the U.S. It’s basic math: As the population of the U.S. grows, so does the amount of trash we produce.”
And Florida can’t control its waste as we rank No. 39 among the states and that puts us in the “worst” end of the equation.
BEST STATES AT WASTE MANAGEMENT
According to Lawn Starter, a lawn care and landscaping company founded in Austin in 2013, these states managed to do the best job at managing their garbage.
1. Vermont 2. Oregon 3. California 4. Connecticut 5. Maine.
WORST STATES AT WASTE MANAGEMENT
But these states ranked among the bottom five. 1. Alaska 2. Nevada 3. New Mexico 4. Kentucky 5. Alabama.
FLORIDA REUSES ITS GOODS
Florida’s overall score and rank put the state at 39, but the Sunshine State ranked No. 15 in the category of reusing its goods.
The Florida Legislature in 2008 had established a statewide weight-based recycling goal of 75% by 2020.
According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the state achieved the interim goals established for 2012 and 2014. But “Florida did not meet the 2016 interim goal of 60% and the recycling rate has continued to decline since that time. Florida’s 2018 recycling rate was 49%, falling short of the 2018 interim recycling goal of 70%,” according to the department.
THE METHODOLOGY
So how did Lawn Starter arrive at their conclusions?
The startup compared 14 metrics across four categories to determine the best and worst states at managing waste and “controlling the flood of garbage recyclables.”
Lawn Starter said these metrics include the presence of plastic-bag bans, the establishment of mandatory recycling laws and the number of recycling facilities per 100,000 residents.
In 2017, the year with the most current figures, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency U.S. households, businesses and institutions sent nearly 139.6 million tons of waste to landfills, including bottles, cardboard boxes, leftover food, grass clippings, sofas, computers, tires and refrigerators.
That was an increase by two million tons compared to 2015.
HOW COVID-19 ADDS TO THE PROBLEM
According to the nonprofit Frontier Group, America produces more than 30% of the world’s waste but represents just 4% of the world’s population.
The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the problem, according to a report in the Tallahassee Democrat in May that looked at a study by a FAMU-FSU College of Engineering professor. This is because more people working from home means more residential garbage and that means more work and stress for trash collectors.
Discarded masks and gloves are also littering parking lots, beaches, neighborhood lawns and roads, and piling up in landfills.
“Every year there is more garbage and waste to pick up and recycle, even new kinds of trash, but we all can do our part,” Lawn Starter said. “There also is a lot to learn from the states that are best at managing waste.”