Massachusetts Steps Up Enforcement of Disposal Bans

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) says is has begun to increase enforcement efforts to ensure that landfill bans and recycling laws are being obeyed.

In addition to continuing inspections at landfills, combustion facilities, and transfer stations to ensure that they are rejecting waste loads that contain materials banned from disposal, MassDEP has begun looking more closely at companies that generate and transport solid waste, the agency has announced.

“More than anything, we want to provide businesses and trash haulers with the information and assistance they need to comply with the waste bans,” says MassDEP Commissioner Robert W. Golledge Jr. “But we are also prepared to take enforcement action if we find evidence of widespread or willful violations.”

The agency wants to hold all parties equally accountable for complying with the waste bans, Golledge remarks, because throwing recyclables away puts a strain on the state’s already limited waste disposal capacity and also hurts manufacturers that rely on recycled feedstock. Diverting material from trash dumpsters to recycling bins also saves businesses money in most cases, he says.

The state of Massachusetts has banned a wide variety of materials from entering landfills, including white goods, CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors, curbside recyclables such as cans, bottles and paper, tires, batteries, yard waste and C&D debris including concrete, asphalt pavement, bricks, wood and metals.

Additional information about the Massachusetts waste disposal bans can be found at MassDEP’s Web site at www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/solid/regs0201.htm or through the agency’s commercial waste reduction hotline at (617) 348-4002.