Editor's Letter: Flow Control

DeAnne Toto

Flow control is back in the headlines. How such ordinances could affect information destruction firms is unclear, as most of the companies seeking legal action against these ordinances tend to be haulers and recyclers.

In mid-June, the U.S. District Court in Syracuse, N.Y., struck down the flow control law in Owego County, N.Y., saying it was unconstitutionally vague. The flow control provisions of the law, enacted in July 1, 2009, direct solid waste and residential recyclables generated in the county to county facilities. The Syracuse U.S. District Court found that "Scrutiny of the letters and directives from the county and its director of solid waste reveals that not only does the flow control law in question authorize and encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, such arbitrary enforcement is manifest here."

Also making news is C&A Carbone Inc., a company that has been battling a Rockland County, N.Y., ordinance that directs solid waste generated in the county to facilities owned by the local government. According to the county, the intent of the ordinance is to "allow for more effective and environmentally responsible waste planning and management and more effective implementation of the county's integrated solid waste management plan" by promoting county-wide collection and disposition of municipal solid waste. (For more on this case and concerns about flow control, see "Impeded Flow" in the September 2011 issue of SDB's sister publication Recycling Today.)

Most recently, the National Solid Wastes Management Association (NSWMA) and waste disposal and recycling businesses filed suit against the city of Dallas to stop flow control implementation there. Effective, Jan. 2, the ordinance would require commercial trash haulers to dispose of solid waste in the McCommas Bluff landfill.

As written, the flow control ordinance "would also prohibit the recycling efforts of the franchisees and their customers, efforts that have successfully diverted hundreds of thousands of tons of materials that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill," the NSWMA says.

Opponents of flow control believe revenue generation lies at the heart of the matter, with NSWMA attorney Jim Harris saying, "It is clear from the history of this ordinance that its sole purpose is to generate revenue" for the city of Dallas. "The city is rewriting the contracts to create a monopoly at the McCommas Bluff landfill so it can address budget shortfalls."

If cities and counties view the shredded paper generated through secure destruction as discarded waste material rather than a recyclable commodity, document destruction firms may find themselves affected by such ordinances.