Explanation of Indicator
The 1988 Florida Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA) revised nearly all aspects of Florida’s solid waste management program. Among its many requirements, the law mandates the creation of an annual report to the legislature detailing the status of solid was
te generated, its composition and management, state agency activities, and program recommendations. Counties have primary responsibility for solid waste management in Florida, but as lead agency the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is respo
nsible for information gathering and submission of the annual report.
This indicator is valuable because it shows the trend in the amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) generated, which may reflect whether or not consumers are becoming conservation conscious. This indicator also shows the waste produced per person. It bri ngs the problem down to the individual level, thus approaching the concept that solid waste is also an individual responsibility.
Data Characteristics
SOURCE
Information on MSW is available in the Solid Waste Management Annual Report to the legislature. Each year the information is available in the Annual Report. The data can be obtained from Peter Goren, Waste Reduction Section, Florida Department of Enviro
nmental Protection (DEP), 2600 Blair Stone Road, Mail Station 4570, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400, or at (904) 488-0300.
ACQUISITION
This information is available in hard copy format at no cost.
COLLECTION
The data are collected annually for each county and then compiled into statewide totals.
Data Limitations
The primary limitation of these figures is that they do not accurately represent the amount of waste generated in coastal counties. The two categories not represented by these data are industrial solid waste generation and waste which is not handled by a
waste management center. Information on industrial solid waste is only collected every 5 to 10 years through a survey, so it is not as comprehensive or exact as the information displayed in the Annual Report. There is no way to account for waste that d
oes not pass through a waste management center. In many cases the waste may be improperly or illegally disposed of or may be composted by private individuals.
Data Analysis
Since 1990 the municipal solid waste generated by the coastal counties has comprised approximately 80 percent of the state’s total MSW. This is as expected since nearly 80 percent of the state’s population is found in the coastal counties. Between 1991
and 1994, MSW generated by the coastal counties has increased between five and eight percent. The amount of MSW generated by the non-coastal counties has been more irregular. From 1990 to 1992 the amount of MSW generated only increased by a total of 2.3
percent. Between 1992 and 1993 the amount of MSW generated increased by 5.0 percent and then by 17.3 percent from 1993 to 1994.
Year Coastal Counties Non-Coastal Counties Florida 1990 15,551,741 3,806,259 19,358,000 1991 15,636,315 3,847,368 19,483,683 1992 16,400,661 3,892,294 20,292,955 1993 17,412,712 4,086,358 21,499,070 1994 18,769,390 4,791,543 23,560,933
Per capita waste generation in coastal counties has been higher than per capita waste generation in non-coastal counties. A possible explanation for this is the large number of tourists who visit coastal counties each year and contribute to the waste str eam, but are not counted in the population. The trend for both coastal and non-coastal counties has been one of slow increase with some slight fluctuations, although the rate of increase has been somewhat faster for the non-coastal counties. From 1990 t o 1994 per capita MSW generation in coastal counties increased by 13.4 percent. Per capita MSW generation in non-coastal counties increased by 32.5 percent from 1990 to 1994.
