Delaware to call for mandatory recycling.

Delaware's Solid Waste Authority (DSWA), with the assistance of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Recycling Public Advisory Council, is finalizing a program calling for mandatory curbside recycling.

The DSWA has operated a statewide voluntary residential recycling program for 13 years, which includes 145 drop-off locations, and has recently launched a curbside recycling pilot program.

The Delaware Senate General Assembly passed a resolution that proposed the creation of a task force to explore the establishment of a pilot mandatory curbside recycling program. The task force includes representatives of DSWA and DNREC.

The parties have agreed to collectively assess the statewide composition of residential solid waste based on available information and to characterize and quantify the residential solid waste composition that would be amenable to source separation and curbside collection; to collectively prepare a market study using commercial information pertinent to Delaware to determine the historical, short-term and long-term trends for the sale and use of curbside source-separated materials; and to conduct a comprehensive review of mandatory curbside recycling programs adopted and operating throughout the U.S. to determine the most feasible and effective program models Delaware could use statewide.

The memorandum will be open for comment and discussion by September. The authority hopes to have the completed program submitted to the state legislature early next year.