TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: MOCK CITY COMMISSION MEETING - The Necessary Business of Diaper Recycling
Recommended Action
Approve adding cost of fuel and labor for diaper recycling collection, estimated annual cost $1,000.00.
Background Information
Only 2% of parents living in the United States are using reusable cotton diapers for their babies. Most everyone takes the more “convenient” route with the disposable diaper. In fact, the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Washington (EPA) estimates the country generates annually about 18 billion disposable diapers. That is about one ton of disposable diapers per baby before toilet training. EPA research also suggests the average diaper takes about 500 years to decompose.
Used diapers will be placed by residents in plastic bags and dropped off in a roll-off container located at the City’s Department of Public Works Facility, which will be monitored by site liaisons. Once full, the roll-off container will be transported to the material recycling center in Sarasota. The bagged material will be loaded into a batch processor, similar to a washing machine, at the end cycle the plastic is extracted and pelletized, the rest of the material is screened and cleaned to produce a quality pulp which then can be sold and reused.
This program is estimated to cost annually $1,000.00 for fuel and labor.
Strategic Plan
Preservation of Environment and Natural Resources
Financial Impact
Annual expenditures estimated total: $1,000.00
Procurement
Not Applicable
Attachments:
1. Diaper Roll-Off
2. Batch Processor
3. Diaper Pellets
Prepared By: Frank Lama, Solid Waste Division Manager
Department Director: Juliana B. Bellia