The Environmental Protection Agency urged Clark County, with one of the lowest recycling rates in the country at 4 percent, to increase its efforts by offering market-based incentives.
"Clark County has great potential to improve recycling rates and reduce the amount of garbage buried in their landfills," said Wayne Nastri, EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest region. "A little effort by everyone in Las Vegas can make a big difference."
The way to accomplish this is left to local agencies for discussion, said David Jones, assistant director of EPA's Waste Management Division in San Francisco, on Thursday.
The report, "Assessing the Potential for Resource Management in Clark County," was released Thursday by EPA's consultant, Tellus Institute of Boston, using 2000 figures for garbage collection and recycling.
By managing local resources available to recycle solid wastes, the EPA's consultant said increasing residential recycling to 12 percent could generate $2 million a year and at a 35 percent rate the revenue could reach $11 million.
The county's current franchise agreement with Republic of Southern Nevada offers little incentive to increase recycling, Jones said.
The market-driven approach to recycling would pay Republic more to recycle than to dump in the Apex landfill, Jones said. Performance bonuses and other incentives could be offered by the county under the current 39-year contract, he said.
Right now, Republic collects three 30-gallon waste cans from each household twice a week and only collects three 12-gallon recycling bins every other week, discouraging residents from recycling, he said.
"All the federal government can do is say, here is the report," Jones said. "There may be opportunities, but it is up to the local company, county government and recyclers to look at incentives for recycling."
Part of the problem, according to county officials, is the poor market for recycling plastics, paper, aluminum and glass.
The EPA's resource management approach is based on markets, Assistant Director of Comprehensive Planning Allen Pinkerton said.
"A lot of counties are having trouble finding a market," Pinkerton said. "A lot of counties back east are getting out of the recycling business."
There are no plans to stop recycling in Southern Nevada.
However, the markets are often not profitable and New York City has just stopped its recycling program, Roma Haynes, the county's Franchise Department chief, said.
One thing the county plans to do is remind people to recycle rather than throw away, she said.
"We realize we need to do more communication with the community," Haynes said.
Consultants who interviewed representatives of the county and Republic said in the report that data was incomplete.
Republic officials were unavailable for comment.
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