Prottsman wants to see more recycling in rural areas

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Something has to change, and change soon.

That was Mike Prottsman?s message to the Henry County Board of Supervisors during the board?s regular meeting Tuesday morning. After meeting with Prottsman for nearly an hour, the supervisors said they were on board with Prottsman?s urge to step up recycling in the county?s rural areas.

Prottsman, owner of Prottsman Sanitation, holder of the county?s sanitation contract, said there has to be more of an effort to recycle among rural county residents.

?There is plenty of room to improve how we do it (recycle) and how much is done,? Prottsman began. ?I don?t think we will ever get to 100 percent, but I think it is a goal we should work toward.?

Prottsman?s largest concern about the lack of recycling is that landfills are filling quickly. ?One of these days we?re going to run out of landfill space,? he explained. ?Anything we can do to lengthen the service of the landfill is worth it. Quite a few residents don?t even recycle one percent. That is a terrible waste of landfill space.

??The uproar is going to be heard when the landfill closes,? he continued. ?The county would incur huge costs if waste has to be transported to a far away landfill. A landfill fills up much quicker than people realize.?

Prottsman suggested encouraging recycling through education, public awareness and setting up the Mt. Pleasant recycling center as a central drop-off point with all services available throughout the week. Establishing a central site in Mt. Pleasant would eliminate the four recycling drop-off points for rural county residents. He said the four recycling sites are not large enough to handle a recycling increase.

He estimated that currently 40 to 75 percent of recyclables are being mixed with solid waste trash.

Prottsman said he has been thinking about creating a recycling education program for several months, but says policy also needs to be implemented.

?The board has to work with me on this. We have a good system now but it has to be better,? he emphasized.

County Auditor Shelly Barber said a benefit of more recycling would be a reduction in tonnage taken to the landfill. ?If you recycle more, you would save us (the county) in tipping fees.?

?I think this is something we do with Great River (the regional waste authority),? said Marc Lindeen, vice chairman of the supervisors.

More recycling would not incur the county additional costs, Prottsman said. ?It would not be a huge cost. I won?t be changing my contract, and the county is not going to have to shell a whole lot of money to change.

?I just want the rural people behind this,? Prottsman continued. ?I know I am going to have to do some pushing. I want people to understand they are getting a good deal.?