The York County Solid Waste Authority has approved its budget for fiscal 2013. The tip fee (cost for disposal) for York County processible municipal solid waste at the York County Resource Recovery Center (RRC) for 2013 will remain at $59 per ton.  Notes Dave Vollero, Authority Executive Director, "The cost of waste disposal for an average York County household is about $2.16 per week.  This is based on an average household waste generation rate of 1.9 tons of trash per year.”  

 

Tipping fees and revenues from the sale of electricity from the RRC support Authority operations, which include the RRC, the Yard Waste Transfer Facility, the Recycling Drop-off Center, the Education Center, the York County Sanitary Landfill/Hopewell Area Recreation Complex, community outreach efforts, household hazardous waste collections, and other programs aimed at waste reduction and recycling. The tip fee does not include collection costs charged by waste hauling companies hired to provide trash removal services. In most cases waste hauling companies charge customers a fee that covers the Authority’s tipping fee, as well as costs for waste collection, hauling and curbside recycling. 

 

In announcing the tip fee for 2013, Vollero also projected the tip fee for 2014 would likely increase in order to meet rising costs and provide future waste disposal capacity for York County.  Points out Vollero, “Our ability to successfully limit tipping fee increases for many years is a testament to our commitment to fiscal responsibility on behalf of the citizens of York County.  Providing county residents with the environmental benefits of an integrated management system that includes waste-to-energy, at a reasonable cost, remains a top priority of the Authority. However, future tipping fee increases will be necessary to cover rising operational costs and to provide funding for capital projects necessary to meet York County’s long term waste disposal needs.  Such capital projects include RRC improvements currently being planned to enhance facility operations and safety, and to extend the facility’s useful life.” 

 

The Authority facilitates responsible solid waste management through an integrated strategy that emphasizes waste reduction, reuse, recycling and resource recovery.  The operations of the Authority are supported by its two revenue streams: the cost of disposal, or “tipping fee” at the York County Resource Recovery Center and the sale of electricity generated by the facility.