Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District
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  Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District
2003 Annual Report

From the Director
In thinking back over the District�s accomplishments in 2003, my mind keeps coming back to one thing: TIRES! One hundred seven thousand three hundred and twenty-three of them to be exact, dumped illegally down ravines, on vacant lots, in back alleys and along city streets. They seemed to be everywhere and now they are gone, cleaned up and recycled as part of a Scrap Tire Sweep sponsored by the Solid Waste District in 2003.

The District organized the Scrap Tire Sweep after the West Nile Virus appeared in Cuyahoga County in 2002. That year, 218 people were afflicted with the virus including 13 people who died. Because abandoned tires provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes, the District convened a Task Force of city and county agencies who organized a major scrap tire cleanup in the spring and summer of 2003. With the cooperation of the Cleveland departments of Public Health and Public Service, Court Community Service Inc., and the County Board of Health, a total of 327 tire dumps in 23 cities were cleaned up.

Other notable news on the waste management front from 2003...

The District published its second annual Residential Recycling Report which showed that 41 communities improved their recycling rates in 2002 and a total of 171,210 tons of materials were recycled through community curbside and drop-off programs.

Computer recycling capabilities expanded with the opening of RET3 Job Corp. in Cleveland. RET3 is a nonprofit recycler that is creating jobs while recycling millions of pounds of electronic waste produced in Cuyahoga County. The District assisted RET3 in establishing this year-round computer recycling site.

Paper recycling opportunities also grew with the Paper Retriever Program sponsored by Abitibi Consolidated, a recycled paper manufacturer. There are now more than 100 Paper Retriever recycling bins in the parking lots of schools, churches, parks and recreation centers across the county. The magazines, catalogs and other household paper collected in the bins earns money for these organizations.

I am pleased that last year every community in the county was served by one or more of the District�s programs. Whether it was through our special waste round-ups, our litter collection program, the Recycle, Ohio! Grant, our newspaper marketing cooperative, or our education programs, we work to provide high quality, needed services that benefit local governments, residents, businesses, and the environment.

This year we begin to update the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management Plan and we want to learn which of our services are the most valuable to you and what new services might be needed in your community. To be part of the discussion, just give me a call or plan to attend one of our Trash Talk Luncheons. Our partnership with you helps us more effectively meet the needs of the public and we sincerely appreciate your support. Thank you.

District Finances 2003
The Solid Waste District is funded by a "generation fee," which is a $1.00 charge levied on each ton of solid waste generated in Cuyahoga County and landfilled in Ohio. This revenue is used to implement the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management Plan through programs and services provided to the community.

Total Revenue $1,938,115 **
Total Expenditures $1,614,074  
Expense Breakdown
1. Personnel $301,157  
2. District Programs and Services $566,299  
3. District Operating Expenses $134,549  
4. Solid Waste Planning Services $99,961  
5. Solid Waste Facility Inspections $476,314  
6. Indirect County Fees $35,794  
** Revenue figure does not include all December fees.

2003 Collection Programs
The Solid Waste District sponsors county-wide recycling collection events for various "special wastes" that are not usually handled by community collection programs.

Household Hazardous
Waste Round-Up
228 tons of hazardous waste collected
36 communities participated
Computer Round-Up 225 tons of computers recycled
31 communities participated
Scrap Tire Round-Up 155 tons of tires recycled
44 communities participated
Scrap Tire Sweep 1,577 tons of tires collected
23 cities served
Litter Collection Program 17,668 bags of litter collected
49 communities served
Mercury Collection Program 1,710 pounds of mercury collected
2,783 households served
Phone Book
Recycling Campaign
382 tons of phone books recycled
Newspaper Marketing
Cooperative
6,754 tons of newspaper recycled
12 community members

2003 Education Services
Educating children, the public, and local officials about recycling and waste management is an important function of the Solid Waste District. Our environmental educator offers recycling presentations for audiences of all ages and environmental workshops and materials for teachers. We also offer a variety of printed materials, a recycling hotline, web site and technical services to increase recycling awareness and participation.

Recycling Hotline: Staff responded to 3,967 recycling inquiries via the District�s Recycling Hotline.

Presentations: Staff conducted 104 recycling presentations for 10,553 attendees.

Publications: Staff distributed 62,263 copies of its recycling brochures and educational materials to the public.

Web Site: The District received 224,592 "hits" on its web site.

Contests: 2,334 students from 63 schools participated in the District's three recycling contests: The Earth Day to Earth Day Poster Contest, The Poetree Contest, and The Zero Waste Lunch Challenge.

Seminars: The District hosted two Trash Talk Lunch seminars for local wastemanagement officials. Twenty communities participated.

Home Cuyahoga County
Solid Waste District

323 Lakeside Ave W, Suite 400
Cleveland, Ohio 44113-1009
Tel: 216-443-3749
Fax: 216-443-3737
[email protected]