As state funding for Wisconsin's recycling programs shrinks, the state's recycling mandate remains in force. Markets remain sporadic, and manufacturers refuse to acknowledge their responsibility for the packaging waste they create. Finally, communities have no leeway to adopt the most cost-effective recycling program that meets their citizens' needs.
Background
The best numbers the state can provide, which date from 1995, indicate that in that year Wisconsin residents each generated an average of 1,560 pounds of solid waste, or 4.27 pounds per day, including each person’s share of household and some commercial waste.
In 1998, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance reported that more than two-thirds of all cities (129 of 189) accounting for nearly half of Wisconsin's population, were "responsible units" for recycling programs.
The Problem
Of their nearly $42 million in recycling costs, just 36% was paid by state recycling grants, and 64% was financed by communities, largely through property taxes, the Taxpayers Alliance numbers indicate.
By 1999, a record 1.4 million tons of garbage from other states was dumped in Wisconsin landfills, most of it trucked into the state from Illinois and dumped in landfills in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Kenosha, Racine, Walworth and Rock counties, though an increasing percentage of waste is imported from Minnesota.
The Solution
Provide adequate non-property-tax funding for the program, as approved by the Legislature in the 1999-2001 budget: Appropriate at least $37.8 million annually for recycling grants by imposing a modified business surcharge on certain businesses and a tipping fee that differentiates between high-volume industrial waste and other solid waste. Exempt tipping fee costs from expenditure limits for municipalities.
The money that Wisconsin communities pay in tipping fees would be offset by their increased recycling grants. Higher tipping fees would reduce the financial incentive for the garbage industry to dump out-of-state waste in Wisconsin. It amounts to a win-win situation for Wisconsin property taxpayers and Wisconsin's environment.
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