COCHISE COUNTY – The color green, in relation to the country’s environmental motion forward, symbolizes many things for many people: the color of nature that can be preserved with environmentally friendly practices or the color of money saved by the same practice. Many people are “thinking green” and “talking green” but the Cochise County Solid Waste Recycling Committee (SWRC) considers green as the green light for action.

Marty Haverty, Director of Cochise County Solid Waste Management describes the operation process of the Western Regional Landfill as members of the County Recycling Committee take notes.

Recently, the SWRC’s nine community members met at the County’s Solid Waste Western Regional Landfill to get an up-close-and-personal peek at how large the landfill really is and how quickly it is filling up with waste from around the region. The Committee’s charge is to take ideas from other residents in one of the three districts that they represent, meet with County solid waste staff and the county’s contracted recycling consultant, R. W. Beck, to learn what resources the county has and how the county can use those resources to develop an effective countywide recycling program.

The SWRC is not wasting any time. Already the fourth meeting since its inception in February, the Committee toured a facility that provides a possible process option for future recyclable materials – a Materials Recovery Facility, or MRF. The facility is not currently active but the Town of Huachuca City opened it to give the Committee members a bird’s eye view of a process that the County Solid Waste Department wants consultant R.W. Beck to consider in its recycling study.

“This type of facility is one of the options we have asked the consultant to consider,” explains Mr. Marty Haverty, Director of Solid Waste Management and staff liaison to the SWRC. “The County may be able to purchase and operate a MRF in the future and I wanted the committee to see the inner workings of the process to take into their considerations.”

Other options that the consultant has been asked to research further include source separating recyclable materials at all the County rural and urban transfer stations and a countywide “curbside” recycling program. However, these are by no means the only options that the committee will have to weigh in on.

“The purpose of the committee is to act as a voice for the residents throughout the county,” says Mr. Haverty. “The members are not taking this role lightly and have already compiled a great amount of input from their ‘constituents.’  They’re out talking to their neighbors and friends and bringing back honest feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of the current state of recycling in our community.”

The information gathered will be utilized in developing a short list of recommended recycling options with the County’s consultant. Cochise County was given a feasibility grant from Arizona Department of Quality to hire an outside consultant and to develop comprehensive recycling programs for Cochise County. From there, the recommendations will be delivered to the Rate Review and Advisory Board, the citizens of Cochise County and the County Board of Supervisors for consideration.

As a member of the public who also toured the MRF and landfill with the Committee, Maria Clarstrom was amazed by the solid waste process. “I can’t believe how big the landfill is and we’re filling it so fast,” said Clarstrom. “I’m truly excited that the Committee is taking some action because everyone in our community needs to do our part now.”

The SWRC is made up of nine members appointed by the Board of Supervisors. Current membership includes the following:

District 1:  Allen Rossow, Charles Narburgh, Richard Kreutzer

District 2:  Hedley Bond, Joan Werner, Mike Rohrbach

District 3: Bonnie White, Homer Hansen, Kathy Suagee.