Waste Management |
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To waste, to destroy our natural resources... will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.
- Theodore Roosevelt
 Traditional waste management includes a variety of solid waste removal services for residents and businesses that take waste from the home or business to a processing facility where it is either sorted and recycled or thrown in a landfill never to be used again. Sustainable waste management efforts can be summed up in the familiar catch phrase, "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle," and start with the actions of every Clearwater resident and business.
We can reduce consumption of products that generate large amounts of waste and choose to reuse items rather than placing them in the trash. We also can become more sustainable by buying products that contain post consumer recycled content, recycling more of what is discarded, and avoiding the use of products that are not recyclable. Changing our habits by composting food scraps and other compostable material will also greatly reduce the amount of waste that must be collected. Large scale waste management programs can also find ways to capture more of the energy (methane gas) that is released from the decomposition process and use it as a locally renewable form of energy.
Waste Footprint
Last year, Clearwater generated 109,711 tons of solid waste and recycled 5,777 tons of plastic bottles, aluminum cans, steel cans, mixed paper and newspapers. Yard waste is sent to a composting facility.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has set a statewide recycling goal of 75 percent of all solid waste by 2020. This will require greatly reducing the overall amount of solid waste and increasing the percentage of our waste we recycle.
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