GBB worked closely with the City and County of Baltimore through two important phases of their regional recycling program development which were, Conceptual Design and Recycling Plan Preparation.  The Baltimore Regional Recycling Plan is the guiding document that outlines the recycling approach to be taken for the area encompassing the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County.  The recycling goal for the region is to meet the 20-percent reduction requirement set by the State of Maryland.  Following the City’s and County’s desires, however, the Plan was designed to go beyond the goals established by the State to achieve the maximum feasible level of recycling.

This conclusion was reached following a carefully structured planning process that began with the development of the Baltimore Regional Recycling Concept Plan under GBB’s guidance.  GBB then conducted two workshops for members of the Project Team that provided a preliminary description of costs and options for both collection and processing available to the City and County.  With this information, the City and County were able to narrow the options considered to be viable for the project.  An evaluation of the City’s proposed approach and an analysis of the options considered by the County was undertaken and reported in the Baltimore Regional Recycling Options Analysis.

Following the results of this analysis, GBB assisted the jurisdictions in developing the Baltimore Regional Recycling Plan.  GBB worked with the City and County staff, environmental groups, the City/County Recycling Task Force, the business community, and the general public throughout the planning process, and fostered the open communication needed to prepare a Plan that would be unilaterally accepted.  The final Plan described the direction to be taken for the Baltimore Region.  This included a program for the collection, processing, and marketing of residential, institutional, and commercial recyclables.  These strategies were created to meet each jurisdiction’s individual needs, based upon the existing and projected demographics, resources, and budgets.  A unique component to this Plan is a regional commercial recycling program that encourages commercial recycling by dedicating a staff of experts to developing and guiding both City and County commercial recycling activities.

Subsequent to development of the Plan, GBB also assisted the City and County of Baltimore in actual implementation of their respective programs.  Some of these tasks included development of a work plan for the commercial recycling program and assisting with procurement of marketing, processing, and collection services.