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RE: [greenyes] landfill bans


Helen



I would have to agree that LF bans do work when they are enforced, on items
with some sort of infrastructure or markets.



Enforcement has always been an issue!!



Michele Raymond (home)

Publisher

Recycling Laws International

301 345-4237

Fax 301 345-4768

Cell 240-472-5676

http://www.raymond.com

_____

From: Helen Spiegelman [mailto:hspie@no.address]
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 10:12 AM
To: greenyes
Subject: RE: [greenyes] landfill bans



I think it would be well-advised for SWANA -- and especially for the elected
officials who oversee municipal waste management in their communities -- to
consider the original purpose of municipal solid waste management: to
protect the public health by ensuring that the streets were cleared of
garbage.

MSWM began as a policing authority, but it quickly became a public service
that put private waste companies out of business (see Susan Strasser, Waste
and Want: a social history...).

My local waste authority found in its 2001 waste composition audit that an
estimated 33 million refundable aluminum cans went to our 2 publicly owned
landfills and WTE facility in that year (at considerable profit to our local
government, which sits on a huge capital reserve made up of surplus
revenues from tipping fees). These aluminum cans have a redemption value of
over $2 million -- in one year, from one metropolitan area with a population
of 1.5 million. In addition, who knows how many wine and liquor bottles,
juice containers, water bottles, and other refundable containers that have
lower redemption rates were hauled away with the trash? (all beverages
except milk are included in our deposit system)

I did a quick analysis of the waste audit and estimated that two-thirds of
the material disposed in our region was either easily recyclable products
(ones under deposit or included in municipal programs) or easily compostable
organics. Some of these materials are banned from disposal, but the bans are
not being enforced. Others should be banned but are not (e.g. yard waste,
which is collected in all communities but not banned from disposal).

I showed this information to our elected officials and recommended that
local waste authorities dedicate resources in two key areas:

- shut the gate: enforce disposal bans on products and materials that have
recycling/composting programs available -- especially EPR programs. Bans are
a key part of local government's policing function and should be resourced
adequately.

- step up to the plate: don't allow our community's compostable organics to
go to landfills where they contribute to global warming. This should be
where SWANA engineers apply their considerable expertise: providing
efficient, effective programs to manage this threat to public health and
safety. Organics are the fraction of MSW that is "produced" by the community
and the community should take responsibility for it, just as we insist the
producers of soft drinks and electronics should take responsibility for
their products.

Helen.





At 12:33 PM 3/1/2005, Heidi Feldman wrote:



SWANA has a motto."No ban without a plan." Often there is no mechanism in
place to deal with the results of a ban. Our agency (landfill and recycling
programs) is charged with carrying out a lot of the programs initiated by
the state (and mostly we welcome that California has been the leader in
these issues). Many times we have to scramble to meet the public demands
after the state says "no" to a material in the landfill.
Heidi Feldman, Public Educ.
Monterey Regional Waste Mgt. District



From: Amy Bauman [mailto:abauman@no.address]
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 12:16 PM
To: 'Jenny Gitlitz'; 'greenyes'
Subject: RE: [greenyes] landfill bans

That's a great point, Jenny. Regulations cannot operate in isolation.
They need to be accompanied by enforcement budgets as well as educational
programming.

Likewise, banning materials before there are markets for them is fruitless.
This is beyond the original question, of course, but I'd like to say that in
the case of Massachusetts, I was extremely impressed with the way in which
the state called on a diverse group of interests over the course of two
years for input into the pending ban of certain types of building materials
from landfills. It was a collaboration among different departments within
the DEP, haulers, transfer stations, consultants like myself,
contractors,and architects.

In the end, DEP held off banning certain materials (like carpet, asphalt
shingles, and wallboard) that were deemed to have insufficient markets to
take up the slack. We continue to work as a team to explore markets so
that one day they can be added to the list. In the mean time, it's up to
people like me to find ways to divert materials back to industries that see
the value in accepting post-consumer material in as feedstock.

Amy B.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jenny Gitlitz [mailto:jenny.gitlitz@no.address]
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 2:58 PM
To: abauman@no.address; greenyes
Subject: Re: [greenyes] landfill bans

Without state and local enforcement, landfill bans are inadequate. Here in
Dalton, MA, for example, the town does not enforce its own regs requiring
pvt haulers to provide recycling; much recyclable material ends up
landfilled. Some of us are working to change this, but there's always local
politics... Landfill bans were originally a back-door way of requiring local
recycling--without being perceived as unfunded mandates. But since the
enforcement is also largely unfunded, the onus remains on local government
to act or not act when haulers violate the ban.

--Jenny

Jennifer Gitlitz

Research Director, Container Recycling Institute

Home Office:

2 Pomeroy Ave.

Dalton, MA 01226

Tel. (413) 684-4746

Mobile: (413) 822-0115

Fax: (413) 403-0233

Email: jgitlitz@no.address

Please note the new address for CRI's main office:

Container Recycling Institute

1601 North Kent St., Suite 803

Arlington, VA 22209-2105

Tel. (703) 276-9800

Fax: (703) 276-9587

www.container-recycling.org <http://www.container-recycling.org/>

www.bottlebill.org <http://www.bottlebill.org/>



On 3/1/05 1:58 PM, Amy Bauman at abauman@no.address wrote:

Hi Dan -

Massachusett's DEP's language on bans begins on page four of the document
linked below

http://www.mass.gov/dep/bwp/dswm/dswmpubs.htm#regs
<http://www.mass.gov/dep/bwp/dswm/dswmpubs.htm#regs>

Enjoy!

Amy Bauman

Director of Business Development

greenGoat

617-666-5253

617-504-2095 (mobile)

www.greengoat.org <http://www.greengoat.org/>

-----Original Message-----

From: Dan De Grassi [mailto:dpw180@no.address]
<mailto:dpw180@no.address%5d>

Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 1:08 PM

To: greenyes@no.address

Subject: [greenyes] landfill bans



Good morning. I'm looking for links to examples of local government
ordinances banning recyclables, etc. from landill disposal. Any
suggestions?





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