SEVILLE – A proposal for a high-tech system to remove recyclables from household trash stalled once again at a meeting of Medina County’s Solid Waste Policy Advisory Committee.

After hearing a report on various modern recycling techniques employed in other parts of the country, Chairman Adam Friedrick asked committee members if they wanted to rewrite the district’s solid waste plan in order to convert the Central Processing Facility back into a mixed waste processing center that pulls recyclables from the trash hauled there.

No one on the committee responded with a motion that would launch a rewrite of the county’s solid waste plan which is only two years old and not scheduled for another rewrite until 2020.

The lack of enthusiasm was not surprising, considering the committee spent the last two years considering other high tech solutions to convert trash into usable products. Among them was a “waste mall” proposed by the Optiva Group, which promised high recycling rates but was not found feasible by a majority of committee members.

The interest in high tech recycling options for the CPF ultimately faded and the committee voted just three months ago to keep in place the current solid waste plan, which gives residents the option to recycle at drop-off bins placed at more than 50 sites around the county.

“I’m opposed to reopening the CPF as a mixed waste processing facility,” said Ryan Lutz, a solid waste committee member from Brunswick. “The city saved $500,000 last year after CPF operations were shut down and tipping fees were reduced.”

Colin Johnson, the environmentalist at the Health Department, concurred with Lutz. “More and more people have gone to curbside recycling,” he said. “We did that at our house and I’ve found we recycle more and throw a lot less into the trash headed to a landfill.”

Friedrick’s reason for bringing up the issue was the result of a new appeal from the former CPF operator, Envision Waste Services. CEO Steve Viny recently repeated his appeal to county commissioners to let his company resume operations at the CPF with new equipment he said could increase the county’s recycling rate.

Viny’s proposal has the support of County Commissioner Pat Geissman, who attended the Feb. 9 policy committee meeting and said she was for restoring recycling operations at the CPF even if it is more expensive.

“Most people I talk to want to put all their trash in one container and have it sorted at the CPF,” she said. “Let’s do something the public really wants.”

Friedrick agreed that many people would prefer not to separate recyclables from their trash, and said there still might be a way to do that. “We have room at the CPF to separate the recyclables and could do that in addition to the other recycling programs we have,” he said. “What we need is to find a mixed waste plan that is affordable.”

A report on current operations by Solid Waste Coordinator Beth Biggins-Ramer indicates the gate rate or tipping fee to haul trash to the CPF has been reduced 31 percent and saved residents and businesses $2.5 million annually. District expenses have also been reduced 29 percent saving $2.4 million annually.

Biggins-Ramer also reported new recycling programs for household trash produced 3,250 tons of recyclables in the first year the drop-off bins were in place. That’s about 2.25 percent of all household trash collected. However, a variety of commercial recycling programs generated 35,000 tons of recyclables, about 19 percent of all commercial waste. Industrial recycling programs generated 88,000 tons of recyclables, 65 percent of all industrial waste.