Roadmap for Maximizing Recycling

Monday, February 8th, 9:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. - Zero Waste

Mitch Kessler, President, Kessler Consulting, Inc.

The State of Florida recently passed the 2008 Energy Bill (HB 7135) establishing a new statewide recycling goal of 75% by 2020. While this is an exciting and important time for recycling and sustainability in Florida; the State faces numerous challenges in increasing the current recycling rate of 24% to achieve this new goal.

To address these challenges, Kessler Consulting recently developed a Roadmap for Florida to re-energize the State’s recycling and waste reduction efforts by developing and implementing a bold new roadmap for how MSW is managed. During the development of the Roadmap, Kessler Consulting researched the nation’s top solid waste programs and various waste reduction policies. Kessler Consulting then evaluated these programs and policies for practicality in Florida. The result of this research is The Greening of Florida: A Solid Waste Management Roadmap, which will be completed in late 2009.

This presentation will highlight the findings and recommendations of the recycling and waste management roadmap developed for the State. The presentation will demonstrate how numerous other states have been able to achieve recycling rates over 35%, and in some cases more than 50%, and will provide recommendations for how the policy and program innovations in these states can be applied in other states to dramatically increase recycling.