Trash talk should lead to better ways

Gazette Editorial Board

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Garbage issues are getting a little messier in the Cedar Rapids metro area these days. And more interesting. Here's a quick update:

l The Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency is building a large new recycling center for drop-off of all kinds of recyclables.

l The City of Marion, represented on the agency board, sends its garbage to the agency's landfill northeast of Marion. It continues to negotiate with a company that wants to build a plasma arc technology plant that would turn virtually all trash into energy, with the residue made into insulation.

l Marion more recently voted support of Fiberight LLC's proposal to build a facility in Marion to sort out organic material from the city's waste stream, haul it to its plant in Blairstown and convert it into ethanol. Remaining garbage, under the city's “eco-industrial park” vision, would go to the plasma arc plant.

Some on the waste agency's board worry the Fiberight facility would negatively affect the recycling center. Waste Not Iowa, a group backing plasma arc plant, says the two facilities in Marion can't coexist.

OK. There are valid disagreements.

But don't forget that the overall goal should be one that everyone embraces: Figure out something better than landfills. Cities can't keep piling up trash forever.

We'd like to think there's room for a grand compromise that serves everyone instead of just one community, with these outcomes:

l Recycle - don't just zap - all trash that can be converted into usable materials.

l Trash going to the landfill is essentially eliminated.

l Make this work without crushing taxpayers. Use market forces to create a win-win for public and private sectors.

Tall order? Yes. But we think Marion's ideas could be a catalyst.

l Comments: editorial@thegazette.com or (319) 398-8262