OFFICIALS PLEASED WITH DISTRICT WASTE CONCEPT

Cape Girardeau city officials said they're pleased that the Cape Girardeau County Commission will take the lead in setting up a solid waste management district in the region.

The commission agreed Thursday to help establish the district to assure compliance with a state law passed two years ago. As part of the law, cities and counties are required by 1998 to reduce by 40 percent the volume of waste going to Missouri's landfills.

Doug Leslie, Cape Girardeau's public works director, said Sunday a regional waste management district will benefit the city's efforts at recycling and composting.

"I think it could be beneficial in many ways," he said. "In composting, for example, there might be several communities in the district with one large composting area with a large piece of composting equipment.

"That would save on costs that each city in the district would otherwise have to incur to set up an effective composting operation."

Cape Girardeau last fall started a citywide, curbside recycling project and this year unveiled its plans for composting. Both projects are part of the city's Solid Waste Management Plan designed to meet requirements of the 1990 Missouri solid waste law.

Although he said it's unclear how exactly a waste management district would be set up, Leslie said the district would aid the city's efforts at recycling and solid waste reduction.

"There are a lot of unknown issues to resolve," he said. "But I see it as being advantageous. At this point I really don't see a down side.

"We've been proceeding with a solid waste program here absent a district. I think we'll be helped by a district that will get communities coordinated as we head into composting and other requirements of the law."

Leslie said the integration of recyclable material among several communities might also promote better markets for the materials.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said he agreed. "There are markets out there that generally deal with large suppliers and they don't really see a small city like Cape Girardeau as something they're really seeking," he said.

"I think with a cooperative effort and combined materials from the region, we would be a more attractive client for companies that deal with recyclables."

Fischer said Cape Girardeau is the only city in the district area that now has an established plan to meet the state landfill law's requirements. The district would include the counties of Cape Girardeau, Perry, Ste. Genevieve, Bollinger, Madison, Iron, and St. Francois.

Fischer said Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties commissioned a recycling study, but haven't started countywide programs.

He said that although Cape Girardeau already has a waste management plan, he doubted the district would use it as a model.

"They'll have to put together a plan for the entire district," he said. "I don't think in the beginning that anyone in the district will be looking at anyone else. But I'm pleased that the Cape County Commission has agreed to take the lead."

Fischer said state grants are available for planning the district's waste management plan.

The city manager said formation of a regional waste management district might take some of the "heat" off the city's waste-reduction efforts.

"There's a law out there that's been passed, and I think the sooner we respond to trying to achieve those goals, the better off we'll be," he said. "We may not like what somebody's trying to tell us, but they've decided this is what must be done and we're trying to comply with the most economic program that's least inconvenient to citizens."

Fischer said the state's waste management law shouldn't surprise Missourians. He said it's merely part of an increased effort nationwide to conserve depleted landfill space.

"I can't tell you how many districts have been formed across the state, but there's really been quite a few," he said. "What Cape Girardeau is doing as a city is nothing really unique. A lot of communities are already doing it all over the United States."

Fischer said residents should feel fortunate they don't have to deal with the problems faced by some communities on the east and west coasts. He said many communities have to pay $150 per ton tipping fees at landfills, compared to the $20 per ton that the city pays the Dexter landfill.

"This is what encourages me to get into this and start searching out ways to deal with this problem," Fischer said. "This is not something the city staff of Cape Girardeau has dredged up."

Fischer said the city has studied other communities to determine the least expensive and least inconvenient way to reduce solid wastes.

"We have not tried to reinvent the wheel," he said. "In Cape Girardeau, trash service is still at a cost where we were at before recycling started.

"What we're talking about is a little inconvenience. But it's saving the taxpayers money in the long run."

Fischer said that if the city hadn't altered its solid waste collection, workers would have to separate recyclable materials at the transfer station, which would add significantly to labor costs.

"What we're doing now is really just a pilot program," he said. "We're learning, and the citizens are learning. But I sincerely believe that this is the way to do it right now."