Plastic bag, Styrofoam ban eyed at Horry landfill

While some coastal communities are banning plastic bags and Styrofoam to prevent beach litter, Horry County officials say eliminating that trash here also would extend the life of the landfill and save taxpayer dollars on equipment malfunctions.

The plastic bags are mucking up the works of garbage sorting machines costing $100,000 a year in repairs for the Horry County Solid Waste Authority, says Pam Creech, board of directors chairwoman.

“Charleston is looking at mandating no plastic bags, Foley Beach mandated no plastic bags, Styrofoam or cardboard, and Hilton Head went through that,” Creech said.

“That is a discussion that is overdue,” she said.

The landfill is projected to close when it reaches capacity in 2043, but creativity in garbage disposal is adding days to that calendar.

Landfill workers saved 75 days of space just by partnering with schools to recycle spoiled food and the remains of uneaten meals to repurpose the wet waste into compost that is sold to the public.

“It’s making an extreme difference in extending the life of the landfill,” Creech said.

The difficulties in trashing plastic bags, Styrofoam and cardboard were raised during a Thursday night briefing with Conway city officials on proposed rate hikes the authority will vote on later this month.

Conway Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy asked how behavior could be changed to encourage recycling to protect the environment and save money on landfill tipping costs. City garbage collectors pay by the ton to dump at the landfill, so less garbage means lower costs.

The Solid Waste Authority will vote Jan. 24 on whether and how much to raise tipping fees. They are considering three proposals that would raise solid waste fees gradually or in lump sums by $14 to $20 a ton.

Blain-Bellamy said officials should consider a combination of incentives, fines or mandates to promote recycling and encourage businesses to cut “wasteful business practices of using three plastic bags when one will do.”

“It needs to be forceful enough that the impacts start pretty quickly. We don’t have 23 years to waste,” Blain Bellamy said.

Mandates against certain waste would have to originate from county and city officials. For example, banning plastic bags for use in throwing away lawn waste would prevent the spoiling of recycled mulch with plastic scraps.

“We would help them and support them on that,” Creech said

“Some of those things would not be detrimental to the public, it would not be expensive, and they would get used to it,” Creech said. “You would be surprised how much landfill space and how much money you could save.”

Members of the Conway City Council will be attending the March National League of Cities conference in Washington, D.C., and Creech urged them to broach the problem with other local officials.

“All of those things make a huge difference. It wouldn’t be terrible for each member of the public to do that,” Creech said.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Plastic bag, Styrofoam ban eyed at Horry landfill."