Garbage Classification Raises Concern At Ohio Waste District

The joint Solid Waste District policy committee that covers Ottawa, Sandusky and Seneca, Ohio, counties, has voiced concerns over the classification of out-of-state trash, according to a report in the Advertiser-Tribune (Tiffin, Ohio).

According to the Advertiser-Tribune, the committee says a large amount of unidentifiable out-of-state trash is sneaking into Ohio landfills classified as construction and demolition debris. Under this classification, the material is exempt from the $3 per ton fee charged by the Solid Waste District to landfill it.

Tim Wasserman, director of the Joint Solid Waste Management District, tells the paper that 15,000 to 20,000 tons of unidentified out-of-state material is disposed of at the Sunny Farms facility in Fostoria, Ohio, per month.

Wasserman says some of the rail cars classified as C&D debris contain up to 20 percent household or other solid debris.

“We are not seeing an abundance of household trash, but there is some in there,” he tells the Advertiser-Tribune.

According to the report, the lost revenue is estimated at $200 per 70-ton rail car not properly identified.