Agenda - Council - 01/12/1982 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I I I I I I I I ,I I I I I I I ! I Qo buying soft drinks in returnable bottles would help ensure that the containers are reused and not thrown away. In addition, compacting waste can reduce the space it takes up in landfills. WHAT'~ BEING DONE It sounds as if people should start doirig something about the problem. They have. In 1980, the Minnesota Legislature passed the State Waste Management Act. The law, as amended, establishes procedures for finding suitable locations for waste disposal facilities. It also requires counties to make plans for abating (reducing) the amount of waste going t6 landfills. The law deals with two other kinds of waste besides mixed municipal waste-ash from incinerating sewage sludge and hazardous waste. Sludge is the solid that remains when liquid is removed from sewage at treatment plants. Sludge ash is the residue left after sewage sludge is burned. The term "hazardous waste" covers a wide range of substances. It includes poisons, flammables, explosives, oxidizers, irritants and corrosives. Hazardous wastes cannot be disposed of routinely because they pose a substantial danger to human health or the environment. The term does not include nuclear or sewage sludge wastes. What does the state law require? The law contains requirements to: - Select sites for new landfills by 1983 that will accommodate the Region's trash disposal needs to the year 2000. - Abate (reduce) or reuse wastes so fewer landfills are needed, an effort caIled "land °disposal abatement." , ..... - Select one site in the Metropolitan Region for a sludge ash landfill by Feburary 1983. - Select one site in the state for hazardous waste disposal by June 1983, and select sites for chemical processing, incineration and temporary storage of hazardous wastes. WHO DOES WHAT Who is going to do all that? The Metropolitan Council and the seven metropolitan counties are the primary agencies responsible for developing new solid waste landfills and land disposal abatement programs. In the case of the sludge ash facility, the Council is the prime mover. Siting a hazardous waste facility is the responsibility of the State Waste Management Board, created in 1980 for just such a purpose. What approach are the Council and the counties using to site new solid waste landfills? The approach is to recycle, or abate, as much solid waste as possible, and then build only as many landfills as the Region will need for nonrecyclable waste. How are they going to do that? The steps and timing of the process are shown in Figure 1 (page 6). The Council has already determined how much landfill capacity the Region will need by the year 2000, assuming no abatement programs are implemented. It also has made a rough calculation of how much of all solid wastes can be recycled or reused region-wide. 2