OUR SOLID WASTE CRISIS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
The time has come to act and to act quickly to address our Broward solid waste crisis.
With over 5 million Tons of waste created here in Broward every year and few places to put it, we are stuck. We are polluting our air and water, wasting valuable resources, and negatively impacting our quality of life and our public health. The costs of managing our waste are rising and are sure to rise further.
What can we do? We must be sure our cities have approved or will soon approve the Facilities Amendment to the Solid Waste Interlocal Agreement.
28 of our 31 cities have worked diligently for the past several years to develop a comprehensive plan to handle our solid waste now and into the future. A Master Plan has been developed by the new the Solid Waste Authority of Broward County (SWABC). This Master Plan uses a zero-waste focus to reduce the volume of waste we create, recycle more effectively, and limit the amount of waste we have to landfill and burn. In this way we can protect our environment and the public’s health. By banding together we can better negotiate with private for-profit waste disposal companies.
To begin to implement the plan, our Broward cities and the County must approve the Facilities Amendment to the solid waste Interlocal Agreement (ILA) which created the new SWABC. The County and some cities have voted to approve it, but several of our cities have not yet voted. This is urgent as the absolute deadline for cities to approve the plan is August 14, 2026. Enough cities need to approve this to represent 80% of the population of participating cities.
What can you do as a resident? Email and call your Mayor and City Commissioners if your city has not yet scheduled a vote on this Facilities Amendment.
Please visit https://browardswa.org/master-plan-voting-schedule/ to see if your city has voted.