INDIANAPOLIS — Tossing glass, plastic and other material into recycling bins is such a reflex for most Hoosiers that some lawmakers now want to undo the 26-year-old law forcing the state to live green.
Two proposals would dismantle some current rules for local solid waste districts put into place by law in 1990.
Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, wants to allow counties to dissolve or withdraw from the districts that recycle a combined 186,000 tons of trash each year.
Another bill, filed by Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, bars the districts from imposing blanket fees for recycling, or tapping property taxes now used to their support their operations.
Kenley's proposal would force the districts that remain to find other funding.
About half of the state’s 70 solid waste districts — some of which are multi-county — rely on property taxes. The rest tap other sources of funding, such as tipping fees charged to dump trash at landfills.
Kenley said he's convinced that Hoosiers will continue to recycle if the bills succeed. His own family, he said, routinely separates glass, plastics and other recyclables from the trash.
“Anyone who engages in right thinking knows it’s what you have to do,” he said.
The measures would allow communities to continue to offer recycling services, either with fees imposed by local government or by turning over the service to the private sector.
The state’s solid waste districts spend about $54 million a year, and their budgets vary widely.
The Vigo County district, which serves 100,000 county residents, spends $220,000 a year. A district in Barthlomew County, with 76,000 people, spends more than $3.7 million a year. The Lake County district, covering about 460,000 residents, spends more than $5 million.
Brown said the private sector or local governments can provide recycling more efficiently.
So far, the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and Association of Indiana Counties are withholding judgment on the plans. They’re waiting to see how the proposals evolve as they move through legislative committees.
A 1990 law creating solid waste districts came at a time when lawmakers feared dwindling space in crowded landfills. Kenley said those fears were never realized, so the state no longer needs to incentivize recycling.
Those in charge of the solid waste districts don’t see it that way.
Kim Williams, who represents the Association of Indiana Solid Waste Management Districts, said there’s a reason why landfills aren’t overflowing.
“We did our job, and we did it well,” she said.
She also argues that the districts provide other essential services that likely will fall away if they dissolve or lose funding. Those include collecting and disposing of household hazardous waste and electronics that contain toxic materials not suited for most landfills.
The Hoosier Environmental Council is also concerned about the bills' impact. Its leaders say few municipal governments are willing, or can afford, to continue the hazardous and toxic waste collection programs.