NEW YORK STATE--New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos recently announced the finalization of the 2023-2032 New York State Solid Waste Management Plan. The 10-year plan describes actions to reduce the climate impact of solid waste and provides direction for New York’s waste reduction, reuse, recycling, collection, transportation, and disposal investments, policies, and practices over the next decade. The prior plan, Beyond Waste: A Sustainable Materials Management Strategy, was released in 2010.
“The state’s new Solid Waste Management Plan is a roadmap for advancing more sustainable solid waste management to reduce landfilled waste and address one of New York’s largest contributors to climate-altering greenhouse gases,” Seggos said. “Working closely with DEC’s state, local, and community partners, New York state is bolstering existing efforts to divert waste from landfills, return materials back to productive use, and reduce climate emissions.”
DEC’s Region 8, which encompasses the Finger Lakes and the region spanning from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border is unique in the number of landfills that currently operate in it. The six include: Mill Seat Landfill and High Acres Landfill in Monroe County, Ontario County Landfill in Ontario County, Seneca Meadows Landfill in Seneca County, Bath Landfill in Steuben County and Chemung Landfill in Chemung County.
According to the DEC, “Of the nine regions in NYS, Region 8 has the highest tonnage of waste imports. The most significant portion of waste imported to Region 8 was Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), which accounted for 69 percent of imported waste from other regions in NYS and from other states. Construction and demolition (C&D) debris accounted for about 22 percent of waste imported to this region. Industrial waste, biosolids, and ash residue accounted for 4 percent, 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively of imported waste. About 51 percent of waste imported to Region 8 went to Seneca County for disposal at a landfill.”
The Solid Waste Management Plan sets forth six major focus areas to move the circular economy and materials management industry forward:
• Waste reduction and reuse;
• Recycling and recycling market development and resiliency;
• Product stewardship and extended producer responsibility;
• Organics reduction and recycling;
• Toxics reduction in products; and
• Advanced design and operation of solid waste management facilities and related activities.
New York’s goal is to have an 85 percent total waste stream recycling rate by 2050. Several initiatives to advance waste reduction were also included in the State’s Climate Action Council final Scoping Plan and would require legislative changes, such as expanding the state’s food donation and food scraps recycling law, reducing packaging and paper product waste, and proposing disposal disincentives on all waste landfilled or combusted in New York.
“The state’s new Solid Waste Management Plan is a roadmap for advancing more sustainable solid waste management to reduce landfilled waste and address one of New York’s largest contributors to climate-altering greenhouse gases,” Seggos said. “Working closely with DEC’s state, local, and community partners, New York state is bolstering existing efforts to divert waste from landfills, return materials back to productive use, and reduce climate emissions.”
DEC’s Region 8, which encompasses the Finger Lakes and the region spanning from Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border is unique in the number of landfills that currently operate in it. The six include: Mill Seat Landfill and High Acres Landfill in Monroe County, Ontario County Landfill in Ontario County, Seneca Meadows Landfill in Seneca County, Bath Landfill in Steuben County and Chemung Landfill in Chemung County.
According to the DEC, “Of the nine regions in NYS, Region 8 has the highest tonnage of waste imports. The most significant portion of waste imported to Region 8 was Municipal Solid Waste (MSW), which accounted for 69 percent of imported waste from other regions in NYS and from other states. Construction and demolition (C&D) debris accounted for about 22 percent of waste imported to this region. Industrial waste, biosolids, and ash residue accounted for 4 percent, 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively of imported waste. About 51 percent of waste imported to Region 8 went to Seneca County for disposal at a landfill.”
The Solid Waste Management Plan sets forth six major focus areas to move the circular economy and materials management industry forward:
• Waste reduction and reuse;
• Recycling and recycling market development and resiliency;
• Product stewardship and extended producer responsibility;
• Organics reduction and recycling;
• Toxics reduction in products; and
• Advanced design and operation of solid waste management facilities and related activities.
New York’s goal is to have an 85 percent total waste stream recycling rate by 2050. Several initiatives to advance waste reduction were also included in the State’s Climate Action Council final Scoping Plan and would require legislative changes, such as expanding the state’s food donation and food scraps recycling law, reducing packaging and paper product waste, and proposing disposal disincentives on all waste landfilled or combusted in New York.
