Submitted by Sarah Eppenbach of the Solid Waste Alternatives Project
Customers at the Lopez Island Dump will be greeted by some big changes on Jan. 2, the first day the Lopez Solid Waste Disposal District will be operating the facility.
First and foremost will be the new hours. Beginning Jan. 2, the facility will open at noon per usual but close at 3 instead of 4 p.m. On May 15 the hours will be extended, and the facility will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Opening days remain the same, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The new schedule is designed to even out the seasonal demands for service, allowing more hours during the busy summer months.
Then there’s the new fee structure. Garbage disposal will cost $8 per 32-gallon can (down from $9.50 per can with a $12 minimum). The most significant price change will come in recycling. Source-separated recyclables will be accepted at no charge. Commingled recyclables, though, will cost $5 per can – up from the current $5 for up to six cans – although a grocery bagful will be allowed at no charge.
“That’s our way of providing an incentive for people to separate their recyclables,” says LWSDD board member Page Read. “We only get value from recyclables when the materials receive the best treatment. We need that economic return that only source-separation can provide.”
What materials can be recycled and in what form will be different as well. Plastics, for example, will be separated by shape rather than by hard-to-read esoteric number as in prior years. A detailed list of items that can be recycled will be handed out at the Dump kiosk in the near future and published on the district’s website, www.lopezsolidwaste.org. There will be plenty of new signage created by Facilities Manager Neil Hanson, and volunteers will be on hand to help direct items into the proper bins. Eventually, the LSWDD plans some reorganization at the Take-It-Or-Leave-It as well.
The remainder of December will bring a flurry of behind-the-scenes activities as the LSWDD prepares to assume responsibility. Patrons will likely see two people in the kiosk as LSWDD tests a new point-of-sale system in tandem with the county’s. Something that won’t be changing? The familiar faces of Neil Hanson and Bob Chonka greeting customers at the booth and directing traffic at the dumpsters.
A Grand Opening Celebration will be held Saturday, Jan. 5, with refreshments starting with the noon opening and a ceremony at 3 p.m. “
We hope the entire Lopez community will turn out to celebrate this major milestone,” says Read. “The people of Lopez have been working toward this day for years. This deserves a celebration.
