President Lynn King welcomed all and called the meeting to order.  Meeting format is Hybrid with some members attending via Zoom and some members attending in person at Palmera Inn and Suites.
 
The prayer was offered by Kevin Courtney and he led the pledge to the flag.
 
Announcements:
Membership chair Jonathan Eggert announced that it was the third posting for Lauren Hollis. Her orientation was held Wednesday night and she will be inducted at the meeting on February 16.
 
Lynn announced that she sent the link out for ROCS (Rotarians Offering Community Service).  You can go to the link to sign up for an activity.  One of the options that has been added is Oyster Shell bagging.  ROCS is Saturday March 6 and you can sign up at: https://signup.com/go/vymddcq
 
Suzi Oliver, Sergeant at Arms, collected Happy $$
 
Speaker:
Suzi introduced speaker Mike Bennett who is the CEO & Owner of i2 Recycle.  His presentation goal was to talk about the current waste options: landfill and recycling, issues, economic influences and the next steps (future initiatives). 
photo credit - Barry Davis
i2 is based in Bluffton and has been in business since 2011.  According to their website i2 is "Helping local businesses focus on recycling and creating a healthier environment for our current and future generations." He talked about what is going on in Beaufort County with recycling and how it is connected to the economy.  He went over a definition of terms: Single Stream or Mixed Recycling - the process of collecting aluminum/tin, paper/cardboard, glass and plastic being sorted for recycling at a separate facility; MRF - Material Recovery Facility - where waste materials are collected, sorted and shipped to to be processed into new items; Class 2, Class 3 Landfill/waste - landscape debris, construction debris, municipal solid waste; Contamination - when polluting or poisoning which causes the material to be not recovered.  The current waste options are a solid waste landfill Hickory Hill, construction debris landfill at Oakwood and Recycling Processing MRF.  One issue is life cycle, for example, Hickory Hills has 7 to 11 years left.  Another issue is there is no industry standard as to what is to be recycled, lack of continuous education is needed.  There are multiple waste carriers (6 - 7 in the area) with different requirements.  The county is trying to solve these issues.  The next steps are to invest in infrastructure, Simplify and consolidate hauling, Incentivize, Promote and educate.  He shared picture of Gibson Island MRF as an example of future vision.  The company website is:  i2recycle.com  
photo credit Barry Davis